Rahul Gandhi, a leader of India's main opposition Congress party, addresses his party's supporters during the first day of his 66-day long Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, in Thoubal district of the northeastern state of Manipur, India, January 14, 2024.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Senapati (Manipur): Civil society organisations who met Rahul Gandhi during the first two days of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra wanted Congress to demand in Parliament that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit ethnic violence-hit Manipur before Lok Sabha elections.
Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh told reporters here that Rahul met students, youths and members of civil society and community organisations when they raised questions about Modi not visiting Manipur for the past eight months.
Ramesh said the organisations told Rahul that what they needed was a “sensitive, transparent and accountable” government in the state, which has witnessed loss of life and property.
“Earlier when we used to come to Manipur, we used to meet Manipuri organisations but now we are meeting community organisations. That is a difference…All are demanding peace,” he said.
Alleging that two state ministers are “missing” and working “online”, he said the Prime Minister did not have a meeting with Chief Minister N Biren Singh and greeted him digitally.
Neither the Rajya Sabha MP or a Minister of State from Manipur could meet Modi, he said.
“The civil society organisations told Rahul-ji that the Congress should demand in the Budget Session of Parliament that Modi should come to Manipur before Lok Sabha elections,” Ramesh told a press conference here.
Ramesh said Modi even skipped a campaign meeting in Mizoram recently as questions would have been raised if he visited the election-bound state and not Manipur.
He said Rahul also met a truck driver and a shopkeeper from Bihar during his Yatra in Manipur.
Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar said Modi never took the name of Manipur since May except for wishing birthday greetings to the Chief Minister. “The PM has won two elections. He has aircraft, he has the car, he has SPG commandos but he is not coming to Manipur,” he said.
Referring to the situation in Manipur, he said, “the drivers of Imphal are not willing to go to Kangpokpi and vice versa. When the Congress had raised this issue in Parliament and demanded that the Home Minister reply to it, you saw how the opposition was maligned," Kumar said.
Kanhaiya said the yatra can be summed up on two lines in Hindi -- "Jab desh mein beh rahi ho anyay ki andhi tab nyay ke liye ladh rahe hain Rahul Gandhi (When a storm of injustice is blowing in the country, Rahul Gandhi is fighting for justice)."