New Delhi: The issue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi not visiting Manipur since the eruption of ethnic violence in the state in May 2023 was triggered a political row in the Lok Sabha Tuesday, with the Opposition questioning his absence from the session, and the Treasury Bench accusing opposition leaders of attacking the prime minister.
Initiating the discussion on the Manipur budget for 2025-26, which was taken up along with the second batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2024-25, and excess demand for grants 2021-22, of the Union government, Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi questioned why the prime minister was missing from the House with an important discussion underway.
This led Speaker Om Birla to intervene and say that Modi had informed him of his absence on account of his Mauritius trip. Gogoi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman went on to engage in a war of words over the former’s remark.
Sitharaman accused the Congress MP of attacking the PM. In response, Gogoi said that he respects the prime minister, but Modi, too, had attacked former prime ministers during his speeches in the Parliament.
The discussion on the Manipur budget was taken up in the Lok Sabha as the state is now under President’s Rule, and the assembly has been kept under suspended animation.
Sitharaman had tabled the Manipur budget in the Lok Sabha Monday. The budget envisages an expenditure of Rs 35,103.90 crore in 2025-26, up from Rs 32,656.81 crore in the current financial year. Outlay of Rs 15 crore has been announced for providing temporary shelter to those who have been displaced in the violence, Rs 35 crore towards housing for displaced people, Rs 100 crore for relief operation, and Rs 7 crore for compensation.
Opposition MPs from Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, among others, said that the Manipur budget did not reflect the ground reality—that 250 people have lost their lives since violence broke out, and 60,000 have been displaced internally.
Blaming the Centre for the situation in Manipur, Congress MP Gogoi said that peace cannot be restored in the northeastern state down the barrel of a gun, and that only a political solution is the way out.
Calling the situation in the state “sensitive”, Gogoi demanded that the prime minister should apprise the House about the rationale for imposition of President’s Rule in the state. “What is the state of Vidhan Sabha in the state? Is it dissolved or in suspended animation?” Gogoi sought to know.
The MP from Assam said that if peace has to be restored in Manipur, the Centre should speak to the people of the state. “…If you want peace in Manipur, have patience to listen to the people of Manipur. What are their political aspirations, what are their apprehensions, fears? You should have the strength to listen to it,” Gogoi said.
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‘Past misgovernance must be kept in mind’
However, taking the Opposition head on, Sitharaman said that instead of talking about how Manipur is burning and the prime minister has not visited, Gogoi and Congress should look at their own party’s record when they were in power in the state.
She reminded them that in 1993, when Rajkumar Dorendra Singh was the chief minister of Manipur, a major flare-up occurred between members of the ethnic Naga and Kuki communities. “It resulted in 750 deaths and destruction of 350 villages. P.V. Narasimha Rao was the prime minister at that time and Shankarrao Chavan was the home minister. They did not even participate in the parliamentary debate…. Where was Gogoi, where was Congress at that time?” she asked.
Sitharaman further said that when a motion for President’s Rule was moved in Rajya sabha in February 1994, it was P.M. Sayeed, the then Minister of State who had responded, not the then prime minister or home minister.
“…And even in the peak of violence in 1993, it was the MoS(Home) Rajesh Pilot, who addressed the Parliament. Written records of Rajya Sabha show that while demanding President’s Rule in the violence-ridden state, BJP member Sushma Swaraj did not press for the PM’s reply or presence,” the finance minister said.
“That was how we in the Opposition respected the ruling party in sensitive matters,” she added. “The faultlines of misgovernance of the last 50-60 years should be kept in mind. The worst blockade in the state happened during Congress’s time.”
With this kind of track record, Congress should not talk of Manipur, Sitharaman remarked.
She further said that when the internally displaced people in Manipur were in relief camps, Home Minister Amit Shah went there for three days. “MoS (Home) Nityanand Rai was in Manipur for 24 days and visited different camps.”
‘Contemptuous treatment of Manipur’
Not just Gogoi, the situation in Manipur and the Centre’s inability to restore normalcy for nearly two years was criticised by Opposition MPs across party lines. Several of them said that it is unfortunate that Manipur’s budget is being discussed not in the state assembly, but in the Parliament. Many questioned the rationale of imposing President’s Rule in the state.
The Centre had notified President’s Rule in Manipur on 13 February, four days after N. Biren Singh had stepped down as the chief minister.
Congress’s Inner Manipur MP Bimol Akoijam said the state budget is a reflection of the Centre’s “contemptuous treatment” of the state. He said that the state budget also speaks of the terrible shape of Manipur’s economy. “…The fiscal liability of Manipur is to the tune of 37.07 percent of Gross State Domestic Product. The state has been in a crisis for two years. Does the budget reflect that?” the MP remarked.
He added that despite Manipur suffering heavy flooding last year, the state did not get any financial help from the Centre, but Bihar was given Rs 11,000 crore following floods in the state. “Why? Is Bihar more Indian than Manipur?” he asked.
Akoijam further said that while several MPs have spoken about the prime minister not visiting Manipur, it does not affect him anymore. “Today, I am almost indifferent to whether he visits or not. It doesn’t matter anymore. But the rest of the country should know that there is no visa issue for the prime minister to visit Manipur. He may go to Ukraine and talk about peace, and his own citizens are being slaughtered. More than 60,000 people are rendered homeless,” he said.
Samajwadi Party MP Neeraj Maurya said that it is unfortunate that the Manipur budget is being discussed in the Parliament, and not the state assembly. He said that an all-party meeting should be called and everybody’s opinion must be taken to restore normalcy in the state.
Outer Manipur MP and Congress leader Alfred Kanngam S. Arthur accused the Centre of disproportionately sanctioning projects in the valleys of Manipur, while ignoring the hills, where 95 percent of the tribal population resides.
“No funds for MNREGA works have been released in 2024-25 and man-days have been only 25. I do not see any allocation for Manipur in central schemes. We are the lowest income-generating country now. The hills of Manipur are redundant today as there are no investments or jobs,” he said.
Trinamool Congress’s Saayani Ghosh questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s silence even as ammunition was looted from police armouries.
Asaduddin Owaisi of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also highlighted how people of Manipur have suffered because of the ongoing violence, besides the issue of internet shutdowns and struggles of displaced people in camps.
While acknowledging that there is a lack of unity in Manipur, BJP’s North-East incharge Sambit Patra gave details of the various measures initiated by the central government to rehabilitate the internally displaced people in the state. “Financial aid of Rs 1,000 per head has been disbursed to affected persons on three separate occasions amounting to a total of Rs 30 crore… Government schools have provided free education.”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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