Though no-confidence motion is most likely to be defeated on the floor of the House, it might breach perception of ‘invincibility’ surrounding Modi and also dent the credibility of his government, which in turn may impact the BJP’s prospects in 2024 polls, writes Gopal Misra
With its sizable majority in the Lok Sabha, the BJP-led PM Narendra Modi government is expected to wade through the no-confidence resolution tabled in the wake of Manipur violence. The sponsors, a group of disparate political outfits, are aware that motion might be defeated, yet the ruling party is worried.
It is just not the political confrontation as the decade-old Modi Government is pitted against, but the heat of the wrath of the judiciary has alarmed the ruling party. The Chief Justice, D.Y. Chandrachud summoned Attorney General, R.Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, to tell them that either book the perpetrators of the crime in the video showing two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in strife-ridden Manipur or step aside for the judiciary to take action.
The motion most likely to be defeated on the floor of the House, but it might breach the perception regarding Modi’s ‘invincibility’ as well as the credibility of his government, which may adversely affect the ruling party’s prospects in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. For this faux pas, only Modi and his cronies in the ruling party have to be blamed for their failure in tackling the Manipur crisis, which erupted following a High Court verdict giving tribal status to the Meiteis promptly.
The highlanders, Kukis, opposed the judicial verdict leading to unprecedented violence in the state. The Meiteis argue that before the merger agreement between the Manipur kingdom and the Union of India in 1949, the British had designated the Meiteis as a “tribe amongst tribes”. “We are essentially demanding the restoration of our tribal status that we had under the British,” they argued. A review petition is already pending before the High Court.
It is being asserted that the opposition is not going into the merits or demerits of the issue, but is focusing on the country-wide anguish over the surfacing of a video clip which shows two women being paraded naked and molested by their tormentors in Manipur. The women were later gangraped. Though a gory incident occurred on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, the video surfaced 40 days after the incident.
