If Rahul Gandhi can visit Manipur, why can't PM: Tejashwi Yadav

Condemning the incident in Manipur in which two women were paraded naked and molested by a mob in Manipur, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday wondered if Congress leader Rahul Gandhi can visit the northeastern state, why Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot.

The RJD leader alleged that innocent people are being killed in the ethnic strife-torn state.

“The incident that happened in Manipur is highly condemnable. It is shameful that the Supreme Court had to intervene in this matter as the BJP governments at the Centre and the state had," Yadav said.

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The Supreme Court on Thursday said it was "very deeply disturbed" by the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur, terming it "simply unacceptable in a constitutional democracy".

Taking cognisance of the video, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked the Centre and Manipur government to take immediate action.

"Why has the PM not visited the state so far? If Congress leader Rahul Gandhi can visit Manipur, why can't the PM? Manipur is burning," the RJD leader Yadav.

Gandhi had visited Manipur for two days in June.

Yadav said, "Innocent children, farmers are being killed, citizens lynched, women maimed or beaten up or burnt alive, girls being raped and paraded naked, minorities targeted. Communities are attacking each other, rioters are openly brandishing assault rifles. Opposition leaders and security personnel are being attacked. What else does the PM want to intervene?"

The Prime Minister on Thursday said the incident of women being paraded naked in Manipur has shamed 140 crore Indians, asserting that the law will act with its full might and no guilty will be spared.

Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after the video shot on May 4 surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a few men from the other side. The alleged mastermind was arrested on Thursday.

More than 150 people have lost their lives, and several injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.

Yadav said BJP leaders and the PM are busy attacking opposition leaders after their meeting in Bengaluru.

“The BJP had never expected that the opposition would come on the same page... but the meeting in Bengaluru has shown how the entire opposition was united".

Setting the tone for their 2024 Lok Sabha campaign, 26 non-BJP parties on Tuesday met at the Karnataka capital and formed the coalition - Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) - to unitedly take on the NDA.