INDIA MPs to visit Manipur this weekend

A delegation of Opposition parliamentarians under the INDIA banner will visit Manipur on July 29-30. In what is going to be their first joint outing since the formation of the INDIA alliance, these MPs are expected to visit some of the violence-hit areas of Manipur, meet the affected people and the representatives of the state government/political parties.

The decision was taken at the Opposition floor leaders' meeting on Thursday morning. The Opposition leaders continued with their protests inside and outside Parliament, demanding that the PM speak in the Houses on the situation in Manipur. Most of them wore black as part of their protest costume for the day.

In a video address from Kerala for a Youth Congress event, Rahul Gandhi attacked the PM's silence and blamed the RSS-BJP ideology for the violence in Manipur.


"Why is he (PM) not speaking anything about Manipur? This is because Narendra Modi ji has nothing to do with Manipur. They know that their ideology has burnt Manipur. BJP-RSS only wants power and can do anything to get power. For power, they will burn Manipur," Gandhi said. His comments were seen as a response to Union Minister Smriti Irani's remarks a day ago when she blamed Gandhi's visit to Manipur for the violence there.

Speaking to reporters, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wondered why the PM was making political speeches in Rajasthan while avoiding the Houses.