The fresh violence in Manipur has sparked a political slugfest between BJP and Congress with both blaming each other for the crisis in the state.
BJP president JP Nadda accused Congress of pushing an “incorrect, false and politically” motivated narrative on the issue of Manipur unrest on Friday. His remarks came just hours after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge sought President Droupadi Murmu’s intervention and alleged the Centre’s complete failure in defusing the crisis.
In his rebuttal, Nadda pointed out that the current situation in Manipur is a consequence of Congress’ “abject failure” in handling local issues when it was in power. He expressed shock at the party’s repeated attempts to sensationalise the situation in the state.
“What is shocking is how repeated attempts are being made by the Congress party to sensationalise the situation in Manipur,” he said in a letter addressed to Kharge.
The BJP chief said that the pattern of Congress leaders endorsing and encouraging a nexus of foreign forces to derail India’s progress is ‘worrying’ and questioned whether this failure is an unfortunate blind spot resulting from Congress’ thirst for power or part of a carefully designed strategy to divide the people and sideline the democracy.
He said that Congress seemed to have forgotten that their government legitimised the illegal migration of foreign militants to India.
“I wish to remind you that under Congress rule, Manipur witnessed one of the bloodiest periods in history. In addition to the black period of the 90s when thousands were killed and lakhs displaced due to rampant violence, in 2011 alone Manipur witnessed a complete blockade for more than 120 days,” Nadda wrote.
Under the Narendra Modi government, Nadda claimed, the Northeast has transformed sectors like the economy, security, healthcare, education, and growth opportunities. He pointed out that people in the region have repeatedly shown their trust in the stability provided by the NDA government, as opposed to the false promises made by Congress and its allies.
He cited several achievements, including over 10 historical peace accords and improved connectivity, which have brought the people of the North East closer together. In Manipur, he noted, the percentage of people living in multidimensional poverty dropped from over 20% in 2013 to just above 5% in 2022.
Kharge’s letter to President
In his two-page letter to President Murmu, Kharge had accused both the Union and state governments of “completely failing” to restore peace in Manipur over the past 18 months and called for presidential intervention. He stated that the violence had claimed over 300 lives, including women, children, and infants, and led to the displacement of nearly 100,000 people, leaving them in relief camps.
“The deteriorating law and order in Manipur has internally displaced nearly a lakh of human population rendering them homeless and forcing them to live in different relief camps,” he said, adding the agony continues unabated.