Assam CM blames Congress for Manipur violence; Jairam Ramesh says ‘only two real sins’

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday blamed the Congress party for the ethnic clashes in Manipur, claiming that the northeastern state is burning because of the wrong policies adopted by the grand old party. Addressing a press conference to counter Congress’ allegations during the debate on the no-trust motion in Parliament, the chief minister alleged that the hands of the Congress party are “full of blood” as far as the northeast is concerned.

“Congress must think and analyse that it is because of their wrong policy and wrong approach towards the people of the northeastern region that Manipur is burning, and the sole responsibility is with them,” Sarma told the press conference in Guwahati.

"Congress’ hands, as far as the northeast is concerned, are full of blood. No Congress PM extended any healing touch to the region in the last 75 years," he claimed.

Dismissing the opposition's criticism that the prime minister hasn't appealed for peace in Manipur, Sarma said he has visited the northeast 60 times and his wisdom will be on display when he replies to the debate on the no-confidence motion.

“The PM has visited northeast 60 times. He knows everything, he is guiding everything. We know that he is in command. You must see the wisdom of PM when he will answer to the no-confidence motion,” the BJP leader said.

Reacting to Sarma's allegations, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh called the turncoat a “product of BJP Washing Machine” and said the “real sins” were committed by former chief ministers Hiteswar Saikia and Tarun Gogoi by giving respectability to a "young man who formed part of the Surrendered ULFA" and giving “this rank opportunist positions of power and authority.”

Sarma held various important positions within the Congress-led Assam government from 20004-2014, including being the health and education minister. However, in 2015, he switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party citing ideological and governance-related differences with the Congress leadership.

No-confidence motion

The Congress-led opposition grouping INDIA has brought a no-confidence motion against the government to force a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had condemned the harrowing incident of two women in Manipur being assaulted and groped by a mob but held back from addressing the overall conflict.

The conflict was triggered by a recommendation of the Manipur high court to grant the dominant Meitei community Scheduled Tribes status that would let them buy land in the hills populated by Kukis and other tribal groups and get a share of government jobs. More than 150 people have died and over 50,000 displaced after ethnic clashes in Manipur erupted in early May.

Initiating the debate on the motion in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi posed a series of three questions focused on Manipur -- why the prime minister had not visited Manipur, why it took 80 days to break the silence on the state and why he had not sacked the chief minister. Going on to list his reasons for Modi's silence, he alleged, "It was because the state government failed to deal with the ethnic violence in Manipur and the Home Department and the National Security Advisor failed to handle the situation.

“The third reason for the prime minister's silence is that he does not like to accept his mistakes. He will never accept publicly that his state government has failed. He prefers to remain silent than accept mistakes.”