NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his Manipur visit, two years after ethnic violence caused bloodshed in the state.
Terming his visit a "farce, tokenism and grave insult to a wounded people", Kharge called out the PM's upcoming roadshow in Imphal a "cowardly escape from hearing the cries of people in relief camps!"
"Your 3-hour PIT STOP in Manipur is not compassion — it’s farce, tokenism, and a grave insult to a wounded people. Your so-called ROADSHOW in Imphal and Churachandpur today, is nothing but a cowardly escape from hearing the cries of people in relief camps!" he said.
Pointing to his foreign trips, Kharge said, "864 days of violence: ~300 lives lost, 67,000 displaced, 1,500+ injured. You made 46 foreign trips since, but not a single visit to share two words of sympathy with your own citizens. Your last visit to Manipur? January 2022 — for elections!"
He further attacked Union home minister Amit Shah calling out his "gross incompetence and complicity in betraying all communities was shielded from scrutiny, by imposing President’s Rule in the state."
"This hush-hush PIT STOP isn’t repentance. It’s not even guilt. You are organising a GRAND WELCOME ceremony for your self. It is a CRUEL PRICK to the wounds of those still suffering because of your own abdication of basic CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES! In the words of your own… Where is your RAJDHARMA??" he questioned.
Moreover, Priyanka Gandhi expressed that PM Modi should have visited the violence-torn state "long back".
"I am glad that he has decided after 2 years that it's worth his visiting. He should have visited much long before. It's very unfortunate that he has allowed what is happening there to happen for so long, so many people to get killed and so many people to go through so much strife before he has decided to visit. That has not been the tradition of Prime Ministers in India. Right through, no matter which party they were, wherever there was pain, wherever there was suffering, they would go. That has been the tradition since independence. So, he is fulfilling it after 2 years, I think he should have thought of it before," she said.
PM Modi's visit to Manipur is the first time since the ethnic unrest that broke out in May 2023, following a court directive to consider granting ST status to the Meiteis. The clashes with Kukis claimed more than 260 lives and displaced close to 60,000 people, eventually prompting chief minister N Biren Singh’s resignation and the declaration of President’s Rule in February 2025.
Terming his visit a "farce, tokenism and grave insult to a wounded people", Kharge called out the PM's upcoming roadshow in Imphal a "cowardly escape from hearing the cries of people in relief camps!"
"Your 3-hour PIT STOP in Manipur is not compassion — it’s farce, tokenism, and a grave insult to a wounded people. Your so-called ROADSHOW in Imphal and Churachandpur today, is nothing but a cowardly escape from hearing the cries of people in relief camps!" he said.
Pointing to his foreign trips, Kharge said, "864 days of violence: ~300 lives lost, 67,000 displaced, 1,500+ injured. You made 46 foreign trips since, but not a single visit to share two words of sympathy with your own citizens. Your last visit to Manipur? January 2022 — for elections!"
He further attacked Union home minister Amit Shah calling out his "gross incompetence and complicity in betraying all communities was shielded from scrutiny, by imposing President’s Rule in the state."
"This hush-hush PIT STOP isn’t repentance. It’s not even guilt. You are organising a GRAND WELCOME ceremony for your self. It is a CRUEL PRICK to the wounds of those still suffering because of your own abdication of basic CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES! In the words of your own… Where is your RAJDHARMA??" he questioned.
.@narendramodi ji
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) September 13, 2025
Your 3-hour PIT STOP in Manipur is not compassion — it’s farce, tokenism, and a grave insult to a wounded people.
Your so-called ROADSHOW in Imphal and Churachandpur today, is nothing but a cowardly escape from hearing the cries of people in relief camps!…
Moreover, Priyanka Gandhi expressed that PM Modi should have visited the violence-torn state "long back".
"I am glad that he has decided after 2 years that it's worth his visiting. He should have visited much long before. It's very unfortunate that he has allowed what is happening there to happen for so long, so many people to get killed and so many people to go through so much strife before he has decided to visit. That has not been the tradition of Prime Ministers in India. Right through, no matter which party they were, wherever there was pain, wherever there was suffering, they would go. That has been the tradition since independence. So, he is fulfilling it after 2 years, I think he should have thought of it before," she said.
#WATCH | Wayanad, Kerala: On PM Modi's visit to Manipur, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says, "I am glad that he has decided after 2 years that it's worth his visiting. He should have visited much long before. It's very unfortunate that he has allowed what is happening there… pic.twitter.com/0h8i9WUe7E
— ANI (@ANI) September 13, 2025
PM Modi's visit to Manipur is the first time since the ethnic unrest that broke out in May 2023, following a court directive to consider granting ST status to the Meiteis. The clashes with Kukis claimed more than 260 lives and displaced close to 60,000 people, eventually prompting chief minister N Biren Singh’s resignation and the declaration of President’s Rule in February 2025.
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