Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for visiting violence-hit Manipur only after two years, accusing him of allowing unrest to persist for so long.
“I am glad that he has decided after 2 years that it’s worth his visiting. He should have visited much earlier. It is very unfortunate that he has allowed what is happening there to happen for so long—so many people to be killed and so many to suffer—before he decided to come,” Priyanka told reporters in Wayanad.
She argued that it has always been the tradition of Prime Ministers to visit regions facing pain and suffering, irrespective of political affiliation, adding that Modi was only “fulfilling” this responsibility belatedly.
“That has been the tradition since independence. Wherever there was pain, wherever there was suffering, Prime Ministers used to go. He is fulfilling it after 2 years, but he should have thought of it earlier,” she remarked.
Earlier in the day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also attacked Modi, calling his upcoming visit a mere “pit stop” and a “farce.”
“Your 3-hour pit stop in Manipur is not compassion—it is tokenism and a grave insult to a wounded people. Your so-called roadshow in Imphal and Churachandpur is nothing but a cowardly escape from hearing the cries of people in relief camps,” Kharge wrote on X.
Meanwhile, security has been heightened in Imphal ahead of the Prime Minister’s arrival. The city has been decorated, and police along with central forces have been deployed in large numbers.
During his visit, Modi will lay the foundation stone of projects worth over ₹7,300 crore in Churachandpur, including the Manipur Urban Roads, drainage and asset management project worth ₹3,600 crore, five national highway projects worth over ₹2,500 crore, the Manipur Infotech Development (MIND) project, and working women’s hostels at nine locations.
Later in the day, he is also scheduled to inaugurate projects worth over ₹1,200 crore in Imphal and address a public gathering.