Opinion: What Really Happened At All-Party Meeting On Manipur

After over 50 days of soporific inaction and radio silence, the Union government finally called for a meeting of all political parties in parliament for a discussion on Manipur.

Typically, all-party meetings last for about three hours and are held in one of the rooms of the parliament complex. Between 2004 and 2014, the UPA government called 17 all-party meetings on issues like the 2004 tsunami, Lokpal Bill, price rise, and the Land Acquisition Bill. From 2014 to 2021, the BJP government has called 28 all-party meetings. It looks good on the face of it, but there is a big catch. Half of the all-party meetings called in the UPA era were related to how parliament could function more smoothly. Close to 80 per cent of the meetings called by the current dispensation (who have an abysmal record of running parliament) have been, ironically, related to the smooth functioning of parliament. But what about intent and outcomes?

Here are some observations from a fly on the wall during the all-party meeting on Manipur.

Allies speak first, then opposition