Rahul Gandhi shares Manipur visit video; Congress jabs PM Modi: ‘It has been a mystery…’

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday shared a video of his two-day visit to strife-torn Manipur, saying the northeastern state needs peace to heal and is the only way forward.

In a tweet, Gandhi said, “Manipur needs peace to heal. During my 2-day visit to the State, it broke my heart to see our brothers and sisters in pain.”

“Peace is the only way forward, and we must all work towards it,” he added, sharing the link to the video.

Tagging Gandhi's tweet, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The walls that have come up due to the politics of hate and violence. It wasn’t the people of Manipur who tried to block him. It was the state police and the administration."

"Manipur needs peace. The people of Manipur need a healing touch. The walls of hate and mistrust need to be broken down. For that to happen, the CM must go and the PM has to wake up," the Congress general secretary said.

In another tweet, Ramesh said the prime minister "found time to congratulate the Indian football team for their spectacular win that made us all proud, but he continues to remain silent on Manipur".

"There are three footballers from Manipur who proudly represent India. His silence hurts them as well," he said.

Last week, the former Congress president visited relief camps at Moirang in ethnic violence-hit Manipur’s Bishnupur district and paid floral tribute at a memorial to the Indian National Army. He later flew to the state capital Imphal, where he held an interaction with representatives of student bodies, women, and intellectuals and met governor Anusuiya Uikeyas before leaving for New Delhi.

Gandhi's convoy was initially blocked from travelling to the violence-hit Churachandpur district over security concerns. He later took a government-owned helicopter to the region that has been reporting deadly ethnic clashes between Kukis and Meiteis.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters on Wednesday, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that the primary responsibility of any state government is law and order and to protect the life of its citizens. "I think the governments both in the state and at the Centre have failed to do that," he alleged.

Gogoi said that it is to start that initial process of healing that Rahul Gandhi went to Manipur.

"We hope that the prime minister takes a cue and visits the state because it has been a mystery as to why the PM has completely avoided going to Manipur or talking about it," the MP from Assam said.

Gogoi, who is the Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha, also noted that the Parliament session is approaching.

"We want a specific reply from the government inside Parliament. We have also asked for accountability from the state government. We want to go beyond the drama and rhetoric as performed by Chief Minister N Biren Singh," he said.