Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the government, accusing it of "breaking" India and making no effort to resolve the crisis in Manipur. “By killing people of Manipur, you are killers of Bharat Mata. You are traitors, not patriots. You have lit the fire in Manipur,” he said.

Gandhi described his trip to Manipur at length. “I went to Manipur. Our Prime Minister has not gone there yet. For him, Manipur is not Hindustan,” said Gandhi shouting into the microphone to ensure that he was heard above the heckling from the BJP benches in Parliament.

Leading the attack on the BJP on Wedneday, Gandhi described how he had spoken to women in Manipur’s refugee camps and aggressively asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not gone there for the last three months. “I went to the relief camps. I spoke to the women there. I talked to women and children. (I did) what our prime minister has not done yet,” he said, adding that Modi had, "split India".

Gandhi said he had talked about Manipur, but added: “In truth, it does not remain anymore. You have divided Manipur into two parts. You have divided and broken Manipur. Manipur does not exist anymore.”

He also accused the government of not making proper efforts to bring order back to the state. “The army can restore peace in one day, The army is not being used in Manipur, said Gandhi.

For the BJP, Union Minister Smriti Irani hit back with an equally fiery speech that listed Congress Party failures in Kashmir and also during the 1984 Sikh riots and said how women had been mistreated during in the pre-Modi era.

The government also attempted to take the focus away from Gandhi’s speech by complaining that he had thrown a "flying kiss" to the Lok Sabha’s members as he walked out of the House. The BJP called this "indecent behaviour" and "disrespect to women”.

BJP women members led by minister Shobha Karandlaje immediately launched a formal complaint with the Speaker and said such an act had never happened in Parliament before. “What behaviour is this?” Irani told journalists after the session had adjourned. “It is only a misogynistic man who can give a flying kiss to women MPs in Parliament.”.

The alleged incident was not picked up on camera. According to some people who said they witnessed the incident, Gandhi dropped a few files as he was leaving the Lok Sabha, prompting some BJP MPs to laugh at him. The witnesses said Gandhi blew a kiss at the MPs and walked out. They did not say to whom the kiss was directed.

During his speech, Gandhi also referred to the riots that have taken place in Haryana in recent weeks, saying: “From Manipur to Nuh, you have set the entire country on fire. First it was Manipur, now it is Haryana. You want to burn the whole country.”

The Congress leader described his own trip to Manipur’s relief camps in detail and said: “I talked to women, kids, all of which Prime Minister Modi has not done till now.” He described how one woman told him: “My only son was shot in front of my eyes. I cried all night. Gandhi said she had told him: “All I have is the clothes I am wearing.”

Gandhi also dipped into the Hindu scriptures and compared Modi to Ravana, saying: “Ravana used to listen only to two people, Meghnad and Kumbhakaran. Similarly, Modi listens to two people, Amit Shah and Adani.”

Starting out by talking about his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi said he jogged 8km to 10km daily so thought to himself that he should be able to walk 25km a day. “I started the Bharat Jodo Yatra to understand the country. ”But," he added: “In two-three days it started hurting.” He added that he got inspiration from the people he met on the way and described how a small girl gave him a letter and told him: “Don’t worry I am walking with you. That gave me strength.”

Similarly, the Congress attacked Parliament Sansad TV’s coverage saying that on Tuesday the onscreen text did not mention the no confidence motion. Even more seriously, it claimed that while Gandhi was speaking (for about 30-minutes) Sansad TV showed his visual for only 14 minutes while during the rest of the time cameras stayed focused on the Speaker and others.