DOZENS of opposition MPs walked out of India’s Parliament today as Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended his record at the climax of a three-day no-confidence debate, prompting a furious rebuke from him.

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, who yesterday said Modi’s government was “set on burning the whole country”, was among the walkouts, said broadcasters.

Modi denounced them, saying: “Those who don’t trust democracy are always ready to make a comment but don’t have the patience to hear (the rebuttal).”

They would “speak ill and run away, throw garbage and run away, spread lies and run away”, he said, to cheers from his own benches.

“This is their game and the country can’t expect much from them.”

The no-confidence motion was brought by the opposition over months of ethnic violence in Manipur that has killed more than 150 people.

But analysts see it as political manoeuvre ahead of a general election next year, when Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to win a third term in power.

BJP’s appeals to India’s Hindu majority have proven a winning formula, and Modi has already steered the party to two landslide victories over Rahul and his Congress party.

Rahul, 53, is the son, grandson and great-grandson of three former Indian prime ministers.

BJP has a large majority in the 543-member lower house and is expected to comfortably defeat the no-confidence vote, which it has dismissed as a headline-grabbing gimmick.

Rahul spearheaded the parliamentary attack on the government yesterday, condemning what he said was Modi’s inaction over the Manipur violence.

Rahul said Modi is “killing Mother India”.

The opposition leader was restored to Parliament on Monday after the Supreme Court suspended his defamation conviction over comments criticising Modi.

Rahul had been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in March in a case critics flagged as an effort to stifle political opposition in the world’s largest democracy.

‘Pain and anger’

Modi’s party has been repeatedly accused by political opponents and rights groups of fomenting religious divisions for electoral purposes.

At least 152 people have been killed in Manipur since May, according to government figures, after armed clashes broke out between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community.

The state has fractured on ethnic lines, with rival militias setting up blockades to keep out members of the opposing community.

Tens of thousands of additional soldiers have been rushed from elsewhere to contain violence, and a curfew and internet shutdown remain in force across Manipur.

Human Rights Watch accused BJP-led state authorities in Manipur of facilitating the conflict with “divisive policies that promote Hindu majoritarianism”.

Modi faced criticism from opponents for taking more than two months to speak about the conflict.

He broke his silence in July after the publication of a graphic video showing a baying mob parading two Kuki women naked, saying the incident filled his heart with “pain and anger”. – AFP, August 10, 2023.