Editorial: Trust deficit

The Modi government owes an explanation to the nation about its inept handling of Manipur

Politics is not always about numbers but about credibility. The NDA government’s credibility has now touched its lowest ebb, with the opposition parties bringing in a no-confidence motion against it in Parliament. The situation has come to this pass solely because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s deafening silence over the Manipur mayhem. The BJP leadership may take comfort in the fact that it has enough numbers in the House to survive the trust vote but what it needs to realise is that it owes an explanation to the nation about its inept handling of the conundrum in the key northeastern State. The 26-party alliance — Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) — and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) have separately introduced no-confidence motions in the Lok Sabha to mount pressure on the Prime Minister to speak on the raging issue. Though the central government came forward for a discussion on the Manipur situation, after much disruption and tumult in the House, the opposition parties are pressing for a debate under a rule that would require a vote. It’s rare for the opposition to move a no-confidence motion to persuade the Prime Minister to speak in Parliament. However, this is not the first time that the opposition moved a no-trust motion against the Modi government. The first no-confidence motion was moved in July 2018. Since Independence, only 27 no-confidence motions have been moved in the Lok Sabha. The last time a no-confidence motion brought down a government was in 1999 when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government fell.

In 2003, another no-trust motion was introduced by the Congress against the Vajpayee government but the BJP managed to defeat it. In 2008, when his Congress-led government faced a crisis over the India-US nuclear deal, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh moved a trust motion to prove his government’s majority and won. The Manipur crisis, which has been raging for months, reached a crescendo following nationwide outrage over a video clip showing two women being paraded naked. The entire northeastern region, troubled by ethnic tensions and contested history, needs a permanent solution that only a compassionate and caring government at the Centre can provide. The inter-State ramifications of the Manipur conflict make it incumbent upon the Central and State governments to ensure the safety of citizens, irrespective of the community they belong to. Instability in Manipur can lead to unrest in the entire northeast, which has been a hotbed of insurgency for decades. The NDA government has repeatedly claimed that extremist incidents have come down drastically in the region over the past nine years. However, all the good work will come to naught if the raging conflagration is not doused at the earliest. The government owes an answer as to why it has been unable to restore normalcy in the troubled border State.

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