Modi spins words, evades responsibility: Congress

New Delhi: After the Opposition walkout, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "We asked the PM to address the nation on Manipur. After one hour and 45 minutes (of his speech), he had not mentioned the word ‘Manipur’. He was making a political speech. They were nothing but the attacks made earlier on the Congress and the Opposition. But there were no answers to the questions raised during the no-confidence motion."

"It was purely a political speech. What was new? What did he tell the nation that we did not know? It lacked the gravitas that we associate with the PM and lacked any substantive reference to the motion of no-confidence," he said.

Gaurav Gogoi, who moved the no-confidence motion in the House, said,

“This no-confidence motion had two objectives - first, people of Manipur should get justice and second, PM Modi should speak on the Manipur issue. After a long time, the nation could see the PM speaking in the House.

We forced him to break his silence...but the objective of getting justice for Manipur was not achieved. PM Modi is running away from his responsibility,” he said.

DMK MP TR Baalu said the Opposition was expecting to hear from the Prime Minister about the situation in Manipur and other parts of the country where incidents of violence have been reported. “He has given a political speech,” Baalu added.