Rahul Gandhi to visit Manipur's Jiribam district today

Guwahati: Rahul Gandhi will visit Manipur on Monday, his first visit after becoming Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and his third after ethnic violence broke out in the state in May last year. Gandhi has been raising the Manipur issue in Parliament accusing the BJP-led Centre of pushing the state into a "civil war" due to its "wrong policies and politics".

Manipur Congress chief Keisham Meghachandra Singh said Gandhi would arrive in Silchar (Assam) by flight and go to adjoining Manipur's Jiribam district, where fresh violence occurred after a farmer Soibam Saratkumar Singh (59) was killed on June 6.

Around 900 tribals belonging to the Kuki and Hmar communities took shelter in the homes of relatives and friends in two villages -- Haokippunji and Hmarkhawlienin -- in Cachar district of south Assam after the violence broke out.