Congress calls meeting of its LS MPs in party's parliamentary office

The Congress party has called for a meeting of its Lok Sabha MPs in the party's parliamentary office at 10.

Meanwhile, Day 1 of the debate on the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government saw the Congress and Union Ministers locking horns over the situation in Manipur which has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May.

Congress has accused the government of creating a great divide in Manipur.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, who initiated the debate on Tuesday said the Opposition was compelled to move the no-confidence motion against the government to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "vow of silence" on Manipur.

"We are compelled to bring the no-confidence motion. This was never about numbers but about justice for Manipur. I have moved the motion that this House expresses no confidence in the Government. I.N.D.I.A. has brought this motion for Manipur. Manipur wants justice," Gogoi said.

He further asked why Manipur Chief Minister N Biren has not been sacked from his post till date.

"Why did he not visit Manipur to date? Why did it take almost 80 days to finally speak on Manipur and when he did speak it was just for 30 seconds? Why has the Chief Minister not been sacked so far?"Gogoi asked.

The debate ended at around 6 pm.

The YSRCP, Shiv Sena, JDU, BJD, BSP, BRS, and LJP were allotted a total of two hours, divided according to the number of MPs from each party in the House.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to give a reply on August 10.

Opposition members have been seeking discussion under Rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha since the beginning of the monsoon session of Parliament on July 20.

Manipur had been on the boil for the last three months after ethnic clashes broke out between two tribal communities Meitis and Kukis, when the Manipur High Court asked the state government to consider adding one of the communities to the list of Scheduled Tribes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing his second no-confidence motion in Parliament today, the first in his second term as the PM.