NEW DELHI, May 3: The Congress party has launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what it calls persistent neglect of Manipur amid the ongoing ethnic conflict in the state. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh also described Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s handling of the crisis as a “big failure.”
Ramesh pointed out that despite the BJP winning a decisive mandate in the February 2022 Manipur Assembly elections, the state has been engulfed in violent sectarian conflict for the past two years.
Taking to his social media handle X, Ramesh stated, “Exactly two years ago today, Manipur erupted. This calamity overtook it after the people of the state had given a decisive mandate to the BJP and its allies in the assembly elections in February 2022.” He termed the conflict that began on May 3, 2023, as the “self-dictated, self-directed derailment of the so-called double-engine sarkar in the state.”
Ramesh also criticised the BJP’s political maneuvering, claiming that the resignation of Manipur’s Chief Minister was staged. “Faced with a no-confidence motion to be moved by the INC in the state assembly, the Modi Govt forced the CM to resign and finally imposed President’s Rule on Feb 13, 2025 – twenty months after the people themselves had demanded it,” he asserted.
The Congress leader emphasised that the suffering in Manipur continues unabated. “No worthwhile reconciliation process is underway. Over 60,000 internally displaced persons continue to live in relief camps in conditions of great stress,” he said.
Ramesh accused Prime Minister Modi of deliberately avoiding the situation in Manipur. “The PM continues to avoid and shun Manipur,” he stated, adding that Home Minister Amit Shah, who has been tasked with managing the crisis, “has proved to be a big failure.”
“Manipur deserves better. The people of Manipur are waiting for the PM to arrive in Imphal and go around the beautiful state and extend the healing touch, at least to the extent that he is capable of doing so,” the Congress general secretary concluded.
