Gaurav Gogoi, Kanimozhi among leaders of 16 Oppn parties to visit violence-hit Manipur

The decision to send a delegation to Manipur came on the day the alliance saw a minor discord over the Congress rushing to give the notice for no-confidence in Lok Sabha, without getting the signatures of MPs of other parties. Many of the parties conveyed their displeasure to the Congress, prompting Mallikarjun Kharge, party chief and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, to admit it was a mistake which could have been avoided.

Those travelling to Manipur include Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, Gaurav Gogoi and Phulo Devi Netam from the Congress; Lalan Singh and Anil Hegde from JDU; TMC’s Sushmita Dev; Kanimozhi from the DMK; CPI’s Santhosh Kumar; CPI(M)’s AA Rahim; RJD’s Manoj Jha; Javed Ali Khan from Samajwadi Party; JMM’s Mahua Maji; Mohd Faizal from the NCP; IUML’s Mohd Bashir; RSP’s NK Premachandran; AAP’s Sushil Gupta; Arvind Sawant from Shiv Sena (UBT); Ravi Kumar and Thirumavalavan from VCK; and RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary.

The Opposition parties have continued their protests both inside and outside Parliament. The parties also hit out at Modi for remaining absent from Parliament while making speeches outside. Kharge said the country has not seen a “darker period than this” in the history of Parliament. “A government which did not come to the aid of the distraught people of Manipur in the last 85 days is a blot on humanity,” he added.