‘Attempt to sensationalise’ vs ‘full of falsehoods’: BJP, Congress war of words over Manipur situation

“Furthermore, these known militant leaders – fleeing their country to avoid arrest – were wholeheartedly endorsed and encouraged to carry on their destabilising efforts. This complete failure of India’s security and administrative protocols under your government is one of the major reasons why militant and habitually violent organisations are attempting to destroy the hard-won peace in Manipur and push it back several decades into the age of anarchy,” he added.

The letter comes days after Kharge wrote to President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday asking her to “immediately intervene to ensure the protection of lives and properties of our own citizens in Manipur, as enshrined in the Constitution”, amid the escalating ethnic violence in the state.

In his letter, Nadda said that the BJP-led government, “unlike the Congress”, would not allow Manipur to be pushed into anarchy. “The pattern of Congress leaders endorsing and encouraging a nexus of foreign forces looking to derail India’s progress is truly worrying,” he added.

Nadda said that under the Congress, Manipur witnessed great violence in the 1990s, which killed thousands and displaced lakhs of people. “In 2011 alone, Manipur witnessed a complete blockade for more than 120 days. Petrol prices and LPG prices were nearly 4-5 times higher than the rest of the country and losses of crores were being suffered by the exchequer every day,” he asserted.

The present state and central governments began to work to stabilise the condition as soon as the first incident of violence was reported in the state, he said. “From resources to personnel and provisions – the entire government machinery is devoted to bringing back peace and harmony to Manipur,” Nadda added. He emphasised that investigations into the incidents had been handed over to the National Investigation Agency, one of the most efficient agencies in the country.

Underlining that the people of Manipur are yearning for peace, harmony and normalcy, Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, said in a post on X that the people of Manipur were eagerly awaiting the return of normalcy, peace, and harmony in the state and were seeking answers to four questions. “1. When will the PM visit the state? 2. How long will the CM continue to be inflicted on the state when a majority of MLAs are not supporting him? 3. When will a full-time governor be appointed for the state? 4. When will the Union Home Minister take responsibility for his abject failures in Manipur?” Ramesh said in the post in Hindi.

The situation in Manipur has been tense since May last year and the state witnessed a fresh round of violence this month with houses of MLAs being attacked and internet services being shut down.

Nadda commended the Narendra Modi government for its work, saying, “From more than 10 historical peace accords to unprecedented connectivity, our governments are truly bringing the people of northeast closer. It is notable that in Manipur alone, multidimensional poverty has reduced from over 20-% in 2013 to just over 5-% in 2022. Yet ignoring these developments you and your party have chosen to use the northeast and its people to rake up political mileage and peddle your nefarious agendas.”

Nadda claimed that the northeast “where gunshots and explosions were an everyday affair” was witnessing peace, prosperity and progress for the first time since Independence. He also hit out at the “disrespectful and irresponsible manner” in which the Congress had walked out when Prime Minister Modi was addressing Parliament on the Manipur situation earlier this year.