Shri Rahul Gandhi, MP & former Congress President holds press conference regarding Prime Minister Shri Modi’s reply on ‘No-Confidence Motion’ at the AICC Headquarters on August 11, 2023.

Shri Rahul Gandhi said-I watched the Prime Minister of India yesterday, speaking for more than two hours - laughing, joking, naras (slogans) in the Parliament. The Prime Minister would say one line and the entire BJP shouted another Nara. The Prime Minister seems to have forgotten that the state of Manipur is on fire, and has been on fire for four months.

Women and children are dying over there, people are being murdered, women are being molested, are being raped and the Prime Minister of India sitting in the middle of the Parliament shamelessly, laughing - which is substantially unbecoming.

If the country is afflicted by violence and pain, the Prime Minister of India should not make fun for two hours. This is not about Rahul Gandhi, this is not about the Congress Party, this is not about the Opposition parties, this is about I.N.D.I.A. It is about our country’s state, it has been decimated, it has been destroyed, it does not exist anymore and it is happening because of the politics of the BJP. ‘Divide and Rule and Burn’. That is why in my speech I said- ‘Bharat Mata’ has been murdered in Manipur. It is very interesting, for the first time the words ‘Bharat Mata’ have been expunged from the Parliament proceedings. It’s an insult to those words, whatever is said, that is wrong? I have said ‘Bharat Mata’ which is an idea, which is the idea of India, where everybody lives peacefully, harmoniously and with affection, has been killed in Manipur, it’s a fact. So, the word (Bharat Mata) itself cannot be spoken by the people of India; We cannot say ‘Bharat Mata’ in Parliament.

I want to tell you about my own personal experience of Manipur. I spoke to you about what I have spoken in Parliament about the women I met, the pain I felt, but I want to tell you, why I said- India has been murdered in Manipur and I said it because Manipur no longer exists as a state. A state requires control, a state requires authority, that has disappeared in Manipur, it doesn’t exist and I saw this with my own eyes.

When we went to Manipur, when we went to the Meitei area, we were categorically told that please ensure, we want you to come, we love you, but please ensure, that if there are any Kukis in your security detail, they do not come into our area, or we will shoot them.

Similarly, when I went into the Kuki area, we were told the same thing. We love you; we want you to come, but please make sure if there are any Meitei in your security detail, we will shoot them and do not bring them here. Before going to the Meitei area, we had to remove all Kuki’s from our security detail, before going to the Kuki area we had to remove all Meitei from our security detail.

When we went there, the security forces, Central Security Forces told us, we have never seen anything like this before. We were told, it was completely outside our control. Meaning there is not one state - today there are two states within the state of Manipur. That is why, I said- Manipur has been murdered and has been ripped apart by the BJP and the idea of India has been murdered by the BJP in Manipur. I was not speaking metaphorically; I was speaking literally.

It will take the Indian Army two days to put an end to the nonsense that is going on in Manipur. The Prime Minister refuses to stop the fight. The Prime Minister wants to let Manipur burn. He does not want to douse that hateful fire. This is the bitter truth. He wants Manipur to burn, he allows Manipur to burn because if he did want it to stop, there are tools in the hands of the Indian government that can stop it, immediately, I know. I have full faith in our army, I know and every Indian citizen knows, that if the Indian Army is told, please put an end to this, it will stop (violence) immediately.

There are reasons for the Prime Minister not being able to go to Manipur. I am aware of those reasons. I don’t want to say them publicly, but there are clear reasons as to why the Prime Minister is not going? That is why, we wanted the Prime Minister to speak in Parliament, that is why we wanted Manipur to be an agenda in the Parliament and what the Prime Minister does- he ridicules the state, he ridicules the women of the state, he laughs at the women of the state. That’s the truth!

See, the Prime Minister, when he becomes Prime Minister, he ceases to be a politician; he becomes the representative of the voice of this country. His political…, the politics should be put aside and the Prime Minister should speak not as a petty politician, as the leader of a political party, but the Prime Minister should speak of the weight of the Indian people behind him and it’s tragic to watch Mr. Narendra Modi. It’s sad because the Prime Minister does not understand, what he actually is? He is our representative, he is my representative, he is all ours representative.

And watching the Prime Minister spend two hours talking about the Congress, talking about the opposition, making ridiculous remarks about the name, this really does not do justice to an Indian Prime Minister. I have seen Prime Minister from the Congress Party, I have seen Prime Ministers from the BJP, I have seen Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, I have seen Mr. Deve Gowda, none of them had ever done this. This is complete misunderstanding in the mind of Narendra Modi ji, what the Prime Minister of India is?

Question: What is the Congress Party’s next step to save Manipur?

Shri Rahul Gandhi said- I don’t say, the only conclusion I can do all because the Prime Minister has tools in his hand that can stem out fire in the Manipur, certainly within 3 or 4days. But for some reasons, he is refusing to use this tool. The Prime Minister at least goes to Manipur, talks to the communities and says - I am your Prime Minister, let’s start talking. It will be taken seriously. So, I don’t see any intention.

Question: That yesterday the Prime Minister’s political speech was more and there was very little talk on Manipur, what would you say?

Shri Gandhi said that the speech was not about India, the speech was about Narendra Modi. He was giving his opinion, his politics, his ambitions to you. The question is not whether Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister in 2024 or not, the question is that Manipur is burning, women are being raped, people are being killed there. If the Prime Minister wants to say this, then say this in a public meeting. If you want to joke, then do it when Manipur is not burning, but the Prime Minister should understand that what was being discussed in the Parliament was not about him. Yes, it was about Manipur.

Question: Yesterday the Prime Minister made an allegation that Congress is responsible for all the problems in Manipur and North-East, what will you answer?

Shri Gandhisaid that whatever I just said, that is the answer. I don’t need to answer to the Prime Minister. I am just saying that a state has been murdered. ‘Bharat Mata’ is murdered in Manipur and the Prime Minister is making fun of, laughing, raising slogans in the Lok Sabha, what answer do I need to give?

Question: As Prime Minister said in the House that Home Minister Amit Shah has given a detailed answer. Mr. Amit Shah says that there is no need to remove the CM of Manipur because he listened to us completely, so what will you say on this?

Shri Rahul Gandhi said that thousands of weapons were looted in Manipur. All this happened right under the nose of the CM of Manipur. So, Amit Shah wanted these thousands of weapons to be looted? The violence that is going on, does Amit Shah want the violence to continue? The Chief Minister is not able to stop it and Amit Shah is saying that brother, he is listening to us, so do you want Manipur to continue burning?

Question: A new trend is visible in the Parliament that since many sessions, the opposition MPs are either getting suspended or disqualified, how will you address this increasing trend?

Shri Rahul Gandhi said that see, you remove the MPs, put them back, our work does not change. Our aim is to stop what is happening in Manipur. Whatever tools are in our hands, we are and will use them to stop the violence.

Question: About the deployment of Army in Manipur?

Shri Rahul Gandhi said- I have never heard in my entire career, I have never seen, I have never been told anywhere I have been to India that if you take this person as a security officer with you, we will put a bullet in his heart. I have never heard it and I heard it twice in Manipur. That means there is no dialogue in Manipur, there is pure violence taking place in Manipur. The first step is to stop the violence, put an end to it. I point out the army, but what I mean is that the Prime Minister has multiple instruments in his hands. He is not using them; it’s been burning for four months. He is doing nothing and he is laughing. I am amazed. People can see this, that he is sitting in Parliament and laughing.

Question: You gave a 37-minute speech inside the Lok Sabha and during the 37-minute speech, you were shown only for about 14 minutes, the rest of the camera was not on your face, how do you see this tradition?

Shri Gandhi said I don’t know, maybe there is contradiction, maybe PM doesn’t want to see my face on TV, but then PM talks about my video. So, I don’t know what it is, but I think maybe he does not want to see my face on TV. Perhaps, he doesn’t like it. No problem. What I had to say is that I have to do my job. I know that media is controlled, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha is controlled on TV, I cannot do much about that, but I have to do my work and I do my work. Wherever ‘Bharat Mata’ (Mother India) is attacked, you will see me standing there, protecting Her.

Question: The Supreme Court has already said in terms of the constitutional breakdown, as well as now you are asking for the army, do you believe that Article 356 is the only way-out?

Shri Rahul Gandhi said- Look, I am not asking for anything, please don’t misunderstand. It is not my place to decide, which tool the Prime Minister can use, which instrument he should use. I am pointing out that there are multiple instruments that the Prime Minister has at his disposal and he is not using a single one.

I am pointing out that Manipur has been burning now for four months, and the Prime Minister is in a very good mood. He is sitting in Parliament, he is laughing, he is joking, his entire cabinet is in giggles. This to me seems completely insane. This has got to stop. India is burning in Manipur. Idea of India has been destroyed in Manipur. Let’s rebuild it quickly.