The political war of words over Manipur intensified on Saturday with the BJP raising the incidents of atrocities against women in West Bengal and Rajasthan and questioning the "silence" of the opposition, which termed it as a diversionary tactic to avoid debate on the situation in the north-eastern state.
While the opposition has been demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Manipur inside Parliament followed by an unhindered debate in both houses, the government has accused the opposition of running away from such a debate by putting conditions and alleged that they lack seriousness on the issue.
The BJP fielded Union minister Anurag Thakur who alleged that there is a long list of heinous crimes against women in states ruled by opposition parties such as Rajasthan, West Bengal and Bihar, but they were playing politics over the Manipur incident.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Thakur slammed former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and the leaders of other opposition parties, accusing them of remaining silent on cases of crimes against women in non-BJP ruled states.