Is Manipur Impasse Set to be Resolved? Government Unveils Plans for Parliament

The government will now insist on settling its legislative work, sources said.

New Delhi:

The logjam in parliament over Manipur is likely to be the backdrop for the government’s big push on the legislative front. Sources said the government is not expecting the opposition to back down from its demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak in parliament on the Manipur issue. On its part, the government is firm on its refusal, assuming that the opposition’s demand is powered by electoral compulsions.

This is why the government will now insist on settling its legislative work, sources said. If a bill has to be passed amid uproar, it will be done, sources said.

Today, Union Home minister Amit Shah told the Lok Sabha that the government is ready for discussion on Manipur. But the government is clear that only the Home Minister will speak on the Manipur situation, sources said.

Sources said the government has already tried to resolve the issue through discussion. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has spoken to top opposition leaders over phone. But with the opposition adamantly against budging, a flurry of meetings took place on the government side.

Several senior ministers have met PM Modi. Mr Shah and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi have met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the current approach has been decided on, sources said.

The government has drawn up a heavy legislative schedule with 31 bills to be taken up during the monsoon session. Among them is a bill meant to replace the Ordinance that gives Centre the power to control bureaucrats posted in Delhi.

The Opposition parties are also determined to not allow any legislative schedule before the discussion on Manipur. And even before that, PM Modi has to speak on Manipur in parliament, they say.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor told NDTV today that Manipur is “one of the gravest crisis our country has faced in a long time”.

“There has been a horrendous loss of lives… there were rapes and violence and displacement. And now it is spreading. In Mizoram, there has been a backlash and Meities are fleeing the state,” Mr Tharoor said, declaring that there cannot be a more important subject that needs PM Modi’s attention.

Sources said the northeastern state has witnessed terrible violence before. But No Prime Minister had visited the state when violence took place in 1993 and 1997. it was not discussed in parliament and only on one instance, the Minister of State for Home had given a statement.

There however, has been a rethink on how the government intends to tackle the issue. Sources said the government will limit its reply in parliament only to Manipur, there will be no mention of violence in Opposition-ruled states -which many BJP leaders have cited over the last weeks.

The situation is under control in Manipur now and no one died in violence in last 15 days, sources said.