Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his visit to Manipur after two years of violence and unrest in the state. His visit has drawn strong reactions from Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Mallikarjun Kharge, who accused him of ignoring the suffering of the people for too long. They said his short visit and roadshow in the state cannot hide the pain that Manipur has gone through since ethnic clashes began in 2023.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, speaking in Kerala’s Wayanad, said she was glad the Prime Minister finally decided to visit Manipur. But she pointed out that his visit came after two years, which she called “very unfortunate.”
She said a Prime Minister’s duty is to be with people when they are facing pain and suffering. “Since independence, no matter which party the Prime Minister belonged to, the tradition was to visit people in distress and show them care,” she said. “Mr Modi is only following this tradition after two years, but he should have thought of it much earlier.”
Priyanka Gandhi also said that the delay allowed violence to continue, lives to be lost, and people to go through great hardship without the presence of the nation’s leader. Her remarks came on the same day Modi reached Manipur to launch several development projects worth over ₹7,300 crore.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was even sharper in his criticism. In a post on social media platform X, he said the Prime Minister’s three-hour stay in Manipur was “not compassion” but “a farce, tokenism, and a grave insult to a wounded people.”
He said the roadshows in Imphal and Churachandpur were “a cowardly escape” from directly listening to the voices of people living in relief camps. He reminded the Prime Minister that about 300 lives have been lost in the state, nearly 67,000 people have been displaced, and around 1,500 injured in the violence.
Kharge also accused Modi of avoiding Manipur while travelling abroad frequently. “In these 864 days of violence, you made 46 foreign trips but not a single visit to share words of sympathy with your citizens,” Kharge said. He added that the last time Modi visited Manipur was in January 2022, only for election purposes.
He further attacked Modi’s government by saying the “double engine government” had failed the people of Manipur. According to Kharge, the Union government, which is responsible for both law and order and national security, failed to prevent violence and restore peace.
Kharge also criticised Union home minister Amit Shah. He said both the Prime Minister and the home minister showed “gross incompetence and complicity” in the way they handled the crisis. By imposing President’s Rule, Kharge said, the government avoided accountability but could not stop ongoing violence.
Despite the criticism, the Prime Minister’s visit focused on development projects. At Churachandpur, he laid the foundation stone for projects worth over ₹7,300 crore. These include the Manipur Urban Roads, drainage, and asset management project worth ₹3,600 crore, five national highway projects worth more than ₹2,500 crore, and the Manipur Infotech Development (MIND) project. He also announced new working women’s hostels at nine locations across the state.
Later in the day, Modi travelled to Imphal to inaugurate projects worth ₹1,200 crore and address a public meeting. His visit to Manipur was part of a three-day tour of five states, including Mizoram, Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar.
The government has said that these projects will boost connectivity, infrastructure, and digital growth in Manipur, while also creating new opportunities for women. However, the Congress has argued that development announcements cannot erase the pain of thousands who have lost their homes, families, and security over the past two years.
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The visit has become a new point of clash between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress. While the BJP wants to showcase development and investment in Manipur, the Congress wants to remind the public of the government’s delayed response to the ethnic conflict.
For the people of Manipur, many of whom are still in relief camps or rebuilding their lives, both the criticism and the promises may feel distant from their immediate struggles. Yet the Prime Minister’s presence after two years is seen as an important political move, especially with national attention once again on the troubled state.
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