BJP 'murdered Bharat Mata' in Manipur: Rahul in LS

NEW DELHI: The politics of the BJP has "murdered Bharat Mata" in Manipur, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Wednesday and called members of the ruling party "traitors", as he launched a broadside against the Narendra Modi government over its handling of the violence in the northeastern state.

Speaking on the second day of the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, Gandhi, in his first comments in the House after the restoration of his membership, also slammed Prime Minister Modi for not visiting Manipur and alleged that the PM does not consider the state a part of India, evoking strong protest by the treasury benches.

The former Congress chief also alleged that the Prime Minister listens to only two people, Amit Shah and Gautam Adani, just as Ravan paid heed to only two people's advice --Meghnad and Kumbhakaran.

Gandhi showed an old poster of Modi and Adani sitting together in an aircraft, and claimed that "Modi doesn't listen to India's voice but theirs (Adani group)." The Prime Minister was not in the House when Gandhi spoke.

After the treasury benches protested over the poster, pointing out that it was not allowed by the rules, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla again asked Gandhi to exercise restraint.

"Hanuman had not burnt down Lanka, Ravan's arrogance did it. Ravan was not killed by Ram but by his arrogance," Gandhi said, referring to the Indian epic Ramayana.

"I went to Manipur a few days ago. Our Prime Minister has not gone there, he has not gone there till now. He does not consider Manipur part of India. I used the word Manipur, but the reality is that there is no Manipur left. You have divided Manipur into two parts, you have broken up Manipur," Gandhi said.

Gandhi said he visited Manipur and met women and children at the relief camps, but the Prime Minister had not done so.

Narrating his experience of visiting relief camps in the violence-hit state, he said, "I asked a woman about what happened to her and she replied that her small son, an only child, was shot before her eyes. She told me that she spent the whole night with the body of her child and then she felt afraid and left her house. When I asked her if she had brought along something with her, she responded 'only the clothes she was wearing and a photo'." "In another camp, when I asked another woman the same question about what happened to her, she started trembling and fainted", Gandhi added.

"These are the two examples. In Manipur, they (BJP) have murdered Hindustan. Their politics has not killed Manipur but killed Hindustan in Manipur. Hindustan has been murdered in Manipur," he said.

"As I had said, India is a voice of the people. You killed that voice in Manipur. This means that you murdered Bharat Mata in Manipur," Gandhi asserted amid thumping of desks by opposition leaders.

"By killing the people of Manipur you have murdered Bharat, you are not desh bhakt (patriot) but deshdrohi (traitor)," the former Congress chief said.

The Prime Minister cannot go to Manipur because "he has murdered Hindustan there...You are not the protectors of Bharat Mata but its killers," the former Congress chief alleged.

Speaker Om Birla then urged Gandhi to exercise restraint while speaking in the House, asserting that "Bharat Mata is our mother".

Responding to the Speaker's remarks, Gandhi said, "I am talking about the murder of my mother in Manipur. I am speaking with respect that you murdered my mother in Manipur. My mother is sitting here. The other mother, Bharat Mata, you killed in Manipur," he said pointing to Sonia Gandhi who was present in the House.

"Till you do not stop violence in Manipur you are murdering my mother," he said.

Continuing his no-holds-barred attack against the government in his over 30-minute speech, Gandhi went on to say that it is the Army that can bring peace to Manipur but the government is not deploying it.

Several Rajya Sabha MPs of Congress were in the visitor's gallery of the Lok Sabha to hear him speak for the first time after his reinstatement as an MP.

"You are sprinkling kerosene everywhere. You sprinkled kerosene in Manipur and then added fire to it. You are now trying the same thing in Haryana. You are attempting to burn the country everywhere. You are murdering Bharat Mata throughout the country," he said, referring to recent communal clashes in Gurugram and Nuh.

As the treasury benches protested and slammed Gandhi, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said the Congress leader should apologise for his remarks as it is the Congress that was responsible for insurgency and other problems in the northeast.

Members of various opposition parties rushed to the Well to protest Rijiju's comments during the middle of Gandhi's speech and one of them was seen hitting the Speaker's desk.

Congress members were also heard telling the treasury benches that they will also disrupt Modi's speech when he replies to the motion on Thursday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi was seen going to different rows occupied by the MPs of the BJP and its allies, apparently advising them to keep quiet.

The former Congress president had arrived in the House nearly 10 minutes before it reassembled at noon when he was supposed to speak and was seen going through his notes.

In his speech, he said the Bharat Jodo Yatra is not over and he undertook the cross-country march to understand what is that he loved and for what he had faced abuse for 10 years.

The Congress leader also thanked Speaker Birla for reinstating his membership of the House.

"The last time I spoke, I also caused you (Birla) pain. I focussed on Adani ji with such intensity, your senior leaders felt pain. That pain also affected you, for that I apologise to you," Gandhi told Birla.

"I only spoke the truth. My BJP friends, you need not be afraid because my speech today will not be focused on Adani," he said and quoted poet Rumi to say 'Jo shabd dil se aate hain woh dil mein jaate hain' (words spoken from the heart appeal to the heart).

As BJP members booed the Congress leader when he was leaving Lok Sabha after his speech, he turned towards them and gave them a flying kiss.

Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani later expressed outrage over Gandhi's gesture and called him "misogynistic". Also, Union minister Shobha Karandlaje and other women BJP MPs complained to Birla against Gandhi's alleged "inappropriate" gesture and demanded stringent action.

In his apeech, Gandhi also said he walked from one end of the country to another, from the coast to the snowy mountains of Kashmir. "The yatra is still not over ... Many people asked me after it started, 'Rahul why did you walk, what is your aim'." "I did not know why I wanted to walk but I soon realised that it is to understand what I love and for what I am willing to die and go to Modi ji's jail --the thing for which I bore abuse for 10 years, I wanted to understand that," he said.

He also talked about what people mean, while referring to the country.

"Some say there are different languages, some say this is soil, some say this is gold and silver, but the truth is that this country is a voice. The country is a voice of the people, their pain and problems. If we have to listen to this voice, we must put aside arrogance and put aside our dreams. If we want to listen to the voice of the people we must end arrogance and hate," he said.

During his speech, he often stepped out of his corner seat in the flow and was at times gestured by colleagues to move inside.

The no-confidence motion has been brought by the Congress on behalf of the opposition grouping INDIA.

The debate was initiated on Tuesday by Congress' Gaurav Gogoi. It will conclude with the Prime Minister's reply on Thursday.

Many Rajya Sabha members were in the gallery when he spoke.