‘Cutting nose to spite face’: BJD barb at Congress while opposing no-confidence motion

The BJD on Tuesday (August 8) opposed the no-confidence motion against the government on the Manipur violence, saying what happened in the state was due to “legacy issues” running back several decades.

Participating in the debate in Lok Sabha, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Pinaki Misra said it is out of the question for the BJD to support any motion brought by the Congress.

“They are very adept at cutting their nose to spite their face,” he said, targeting the Congress. “It defies logic and political sense to bring a no-confidence motion that is bound to fail, Misra said, adding that every time the prime minister gets up on the floor of the House, “he pushes the Congress party through the shredder”.

“So let me make it clear: We oppose this motion because it has been brought by the Congress party. But there are many other compelling reasons,” he said.

“Result of 50–60 years of strife”

The conflagration in Manipur is not the result of the past 10 years, he said. “It is the result of nearly 50–60 years of strife in Manipur. The fact of the matter is the entire issue boiled earlier in the 1980s too,” the MP said.

Misra said the home minister had called an all-party meeting on Manipur where he gave an exceptionally detailed analysis of the situation there.

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“I believe the central government missed a trick there. The central government asking for the matter to be remanded back to the High Court was a huge error, and I pointed out there that the central government should have been happy to let the matter rest in the Supreme Court’s lap because we have seen people of the country have faith in the Supreme Court,” he said.

“Look at the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi issue, which was not solved for decades, but it was taken up by SC and both parties agreed to the decision,” he said.

“Speak in one voice”

Misra also urged all parties to speak in one voice on the Manipur issue.

“What happened in Manipur is heart-rending and all parties must speak in one voice. What this Parliament cannot afford is a no-confidence motion against the central government because each party must give constructive suggestions rather than blaming the central government on Manipur which is clearly a legacy issue running back several decades,” he said.

He also said that it is not clear how useful a step to impose President’s rule in Manipur would be.

“If President’s rule is imposed there, I am not sure if it would have worked too. So, the central government was confronted with a Hobson’s choice and all political parties should have considered it. The need of the hour is to speak in one voice and not a fractious tone,” he said.

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Misra also said what happened in Manipur is seen everywhere where there is strife and conflict.

“Modi pushes Congress through shredder”

He also took a swipe at the Congress, saying the party is “adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of the victory”.

“They are also very adept at cutting their nose to spite their face… Every time the PM gets up on the floor of the House, he pushes the Congress party through the shredder. They go through the shredding machine, so I do not understand why they want to cut their nose to spite their face by asking him to come to the House. This defies common sense, defies logic, defies political sense,” he said.

“It is for people to decide if it was right or wrong for him to speak and you take that to the people to decide. You don’t bring a no-confidence motion that is doomed to fail; you don’t bring it needlessly and waste the time of the House and disrupt the House. This kind of disruptive politics has not paid any dividend in past and it would not pay any dividend in the future,” he said.

The BJD had provided crucial support to the government in Rajya Sabha on Monday on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

(With agency inputs)