NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will make a two-day visit to strife-torn Manipur as part of the party’s “healing touch” campaign in the Northeastern state.
Rahul is scheduled to go to Manipur on Thursday and return the next day. During the stay, he will visit the Imphal valley as well as the hill districts which are known as tribal areas.
The trip will further Congress’s campaign for normalcy in the state, even as it puts greater focus on the unending cycle of violence that has gripped Manipur for around two months. Congress has been attacking the Modi government and chief minister Biren Singh for their “failure” in restoring normalcy, while also questioning the “silence” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded the sacking of CM Singh, arguing that peace was not possible under his leadership.
Congress hopes that Rahul’s visit will put Modi on the defensive. As the PM Tuesday kick-started BJP’s election campaign in Madhya Pradesh, Congress spokesman Pawan Khera said PM Modi, on his return from the US, asked BJP president JP Nadda, “what is happening in the country?”
He said, “What is happening is that on one hand, Manipur is aflame, and on the other, Modi’s campaign is in full swing.”
During the all-party meeting on Manipur convened by home minister Amit Shah last week, Congress was critical of the Centre for hosting it in the national capital instead of Imphal, and termed it a formality done by the government. The other opposition parties too spoke in the same vein.
Given the split between the opposition and the ruling BJP on the issue, Rahul’s trip will help Congress maintain political focus on the border state, which it has dubbed as the evidence of the “failure of double engine government”.
Sources said Rahul is likely to be accompanied by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, while state in-charge Ajoy Kumar is said to have already left. However, there are doubts in the party if the government will allow Rahul’s delegation to travel across the state, and to also visit relief camps.
Rahul is scheduled to go to Manipur on Thursday and return the next day. During the stay, he will visit the Imphal valley as well as the hill districts which are known as tribal areas.
The trip will further Congress’s campaign for normalcy in the state, even as it puts greater focus on the unending cycle of violence that has gripped Manipur for around two months. Congress has been attacking the Modi government and chief minister Biren Singh for their “failure” in restoring normalcy, while also questioning the “silence” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded the sacking of CM Singh, arguing that peace was not possible under his leadership.
Congress hopes that Rahul’s visit will put Modi on the defensive. As the PM Tuesday kick-started BJP’s election campaign in Madhya Pradesh, Congress spokesman Pawan Khera said PM Modi, on his return from the US, asked BJP president JP Nadda, “what is happening in the country?”
He said, “What is happening is that on one hand, Manipur is aflame, and on the other, Modi’s campaign is in full swing.”
During the all-party meeting on Manipur convened by home minister Amit Shah last week, Congress was critical of the Centre for hosting it in the national capital instead of Imphal, and termed it a formality done by the government. The other opposition parties too spoke in the same vein.
Given the split between the opposition and the ruling BJP on the issue, Rahul’s trip will help Congress maintain political focus on the border state, which it has dubbed as the evidence of the “failure of double engine government”.
Sources said Rahul is likely to be accompanied by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, while state in-charge Ajoy Kumar is said to have already left. However, there are doubts in the party if the government will allow Rahul’s delegation to travel across the state, and to also visit relief camps.
