Congress on Thursday once again hit out at the BJP-led Central government over the ongoing violence in Manipur saying that it is a "colossal failure of governance on part of the double engine government".In a video statement, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that its been 51 days, the agony, the distress, the pain, and the anguish continues in Manipur.
"Prime Minister Modi is of course now in the US but he has not said a word on Manipur... not only that he has refused to meet MLAs from Manipur, political parties from Manipur and his own party colleagues from Manipur," Ramesh said.
Targeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah for calling an all-party meeting over the Manipur issue in absence of the Prime Minister, the Congress leader said: "Home Minister has now called an all-party meeting on June 24, what use of having an all-party meeting when the Prime Minister is not there?"
"...I think this is gross derliciation and fabrication of duty on part of the Prime Minister, its beyond comprehension, it's bizarre," added Ramesh, who is also the Congress' in-charge of the Communications department.
Firing salvos at the Prime Minister for his "silence" on Manipur, the Congress Rajya Sabha member said, "Why has the Prime Minister chosen to remain silent when a state of India is burning and hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced."
Referring to the three-day visit of Shah to Manipur, the Congress leader said that the Home Minister went to Manipur after a gap of 25 days after a "busy electioneering" in Karnataka "but his visit had no impact".
"We are having the same division, a bitter division between communities in Manipur, and central commodities are not available easily and armed groups continue to operate with impunity. All in all, it is a colossal failure of governance on part of the double engine government and it is failure of the state government run by the BJP to control the situation and allow the situation to develop in the first place," he said.
The sharp reaction from the Congress came at a time when the Prime Minister is on a state visit to the US. Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to go to Egypt.The Congress has been critical of the government over Manipur violence and has repeatedly questioned the Prime Minister's "silence" on the issue.
Manipur has been witnessing violence since May 3 and over 100 people have lost their lives while thousands have been forced to live in the relief camps.On Wednesday, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi condoled the death of people in Manipur and appealed for peace in the northeastern state, while Union Home Minister called an all-party meeting on June 24 in New Delhi to discuss the situation.