Oppn shifting goalposts when PM Modi speaks: BJP

With the opposition refusing to join a discussion in Rajya Sabha on the Manipur situation, the BJP on Monday slammed its demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement as a case of “shifting goalposts” and noted that its members have frequently disturbed him when he has spoken in Parliament in the past.

It is clear that the opposition has been shedding “crocodile tears” over the situation in the state, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters as both Houses of Parliament were adjourned following uproar over the demand by INDIA bloc parties that Modi should speak on the issue first before any discussion.

“When he (Modi) stands up to reply what noise and disturbance they create. They did not have the courtesy to listen to him. Today they insist. What an irony,” Sitharaman said, while her ministerial colleagues from the ruling party also hit out at the opposition over continuing disruptions in Parliament.

In his reaction, Union minister Piyush Goyal rejected the opposition’s criticism of the government for pushing its legislative agenda in Parliament and not taking up the no-confidence motion, saying neither rules nor precedents make it mandatory for the ruling party to prove its majority first.

The Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha told reporters that everyone knows the government enjoys a two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha and the numbers strongly favour it.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur accused the opposition of running away from a debate in Parliament on the ethnic violence in Manipur and wondered what was the use of getting elected if they wanted to raise issues on the streets.

Slamming the Opposition for its demand for Modi’s statement, Sitharaman said, “Why do you want to presume that everything has to start and end as per your demands? Are you concerned about Manipur or are you doing politics?”

She asked opposition parties to tell Parliament what they heard during their recent visit to the violent-hit northeast state. They are shifting the goalposts, she said.

Like the black shirts they wore in protest, their intentions are also black, she added, criticising opposition members.

Manipur was hit by nearly a year-long blockade with the supply of essential commodities affected when the Congress was in power at the Centre and in the state, she said.

“Did any home minister go to Manipur then? Our Home Minister Amit Shah was there for three days.”