20 Opposition MPs To Visit Violence-Hit Manipur Today To Assess Situation

A 21-member opposition delegation will visit Manipur today to assess the ground situation in the northeastern state where ethnic violence has been raging for nearly three months.

The delegation includes Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress, Sushmita Dev of the Trinamool, DMK’s Kanimozhi, RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha, and JDU chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, among others. This is their first visit to the state since the formation of the Opposition front INDIA.

The Opposition leaders, on a two-day visit, will land in Imphal around noon and take a chopper straight to Churachandpur where they will meet the Kuki tribe leaders, civil society and women groups, said sources.

The delegation will also visit relief camps and meet the victims of violence before returning to Imphal where they will meet the members of the Meitei community, sources added.

The BJP has accused the opposition parties of seeking to create further tension in the state. Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said he is against their Manipur visit, but they should not aggravate the situation.

Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi told PTI they “will go to Manipur and find out the truth and will put forward that truth before Parliament”. “The government has failed, so we want to go there and see what solution can be found,” said Trinamool’s Sushmita Dev.

The Manipur issue has led to a parliament logjam since the Monsoon Session convened this month, with the Opposition MPs demanding a long discussion on it as well as a statement from the Prime Minister in parliament. But the centre has insisted that Home Minister Amit Shah will respond to the Opposition.

The government is also set to face a no-confidence motion in the parliament, brought by the Congress. The Lok Sabha Speaker has accepted the motion but is yet to decide a date for the no-trust vote.

The Opposition delegation’s visit to Manipur comes exactly a month after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the state on June 29-30. On the first day of his visit, his convoy was stopped and he flew in a helicopter to the violence-hit Churachandpur district from state capital Imphal.

The government of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who has thus far refused to give in to demands of resignation, has decided to convene an assembly session at the end of this month or early August.

At least 180 people have died and thousands have been displaced since the violence broke out on May 3.