Opposition slams PM Modi over Manipur, BJP defends government’s response

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties on Monday used the discussion on Manipur budget in the Rajya Sabha to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not having visited the state even once after ethnic violence broke out there in May 2023.
Members from the Congress, TMC, DMK, BJD, AAP and CPI accused the the prime minister for not finding the time to visit the state to “apply balm to wounds of the Manipuri people”, even as he criss-crossed the country and toured multiple nations for official engagements.
Countering the attack, the Treasury benches drew attention of the House to home minister Amit Shah visits to Manipur, starting with a three-day stay days into the violence, which concluded with announcement of several measures to restore order and offer succour to the violence-hit. This was followed by his deputy Nityanand Rai camping in the state for a good three months to oversee the implementation of these measures.
BJP MPs Arun Singh pointed out how in 1993, when the Congress was in power both at the Centre in Manipur, ethnic violence there had claimed 750 lives and wiped out 300 villages. He said the then Prime Minister never bothered to visit the state, nor did his home minister offer an explanation in Parliament.

Congress’s Shaktisinh Gohil said there was a need to rise above political considerations and assure Manipur that its problems are the nation’s problems, RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha proposed an all-party delegation’s visit to Manipur. TMC’s Sushmita Dev and AAP’s Sanjay Singh noted that the peace committee announced by Shah for Manipur was a non-starter as its proposed members were unwilling to work with chief minister N Biren Singh. The opposition MPs said that Centre had refused to review the leadership in Manipur while it burned for two years, but suddenly decided (in December 2024) to appoint former home secretary Ajay Bhalla as governor, before getting Singh to step down and, within a few days, placed the state under President’s rule. “Aap chronology samajhiye,” said Dev. Both she and AAP’s Sanjay Singh linked Biren Singh’s exit to the Supreme Court taking up the matter relating to the controversial Manipur tapes, which a report claims feature the CM’s voice.
Arun Singh and Gopachade said the Centre is committed to a financial turnaround in Manipur with generous allocations for social sector schemes, infrastructure projects etc in the state budget. BJP MP from Manipur Sanajoaba Leishemba sought continued support from the Centre, saying that 60,000 people still living in camps in dire conditions, are waiting to “start their lives from zero”.
Dev said the ‘double engine’ govt of BJP in Manipur had failed — a point reiterated by BJD’s Sulata Deo — even as Arun Singh retorted saying that a party like TMC holding office in just one state should not talk of a party ruling 21 states.