New Delhi: The Union government, after including it initially, has left out a question on whether Article 355 can be applied in Manipur in its final list of replies to be tabled in the Lok Sabha today, the Economic Times has reported.The Article 355 says that it is the duty of the Union government to protect states against external aggression and internal disturbance.The Union home ministry’s tentative list of businesses had mentioned a question on Article 355 at first. But the final list which is to be tabled in parliament today, August 1, does not mention it, the paper reported. Three questions were deleted from a list of 30.In Rajya Sabha, a reply on drug trafficking in Manipur may tentatively be tabled on Wednesday, the report said.In late July, Congress veteran P. Chidambaram had said in the Rajya Sabha that “not a single question on the violence in Manipur” had been admitted and answered in the ongoing Monsoon Session of the parliament.He said that he had asked the Parliamentary Research and Information Support for Members of Parliament, which of the questions on Manipur had been admitted and answered. “The answer shocked me. Not one question has been admitted or answered on the subject. The subject is Manipur,” he said.Manipur has been embroiled in ethnic violence that has killed over 140, divided the state along communal lines and left tens of thousands displaced.The Union government and the Manipur state government, both ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, have been severely criticised over its handling of the violence.Opposition parties have been demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi issue a statement on Manipur inside the parliament. Modi has not heeded this.
