Delegation of INDIA alliance to visit Manipur on July 29
More than 20 MPs from Opposition parties are expected to visit the violence hit northeastern state.
A delegation of MPs from the Opposition alliance will visit Manipur on July 29 and July 30, PTI reported on Friday.
The Congress’ Chief Whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said that the delegation will comprise more than 20 members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA, and will take a look at the situation in the state.
“We wanted the PM [Narendra Modi] to visit Manipur…which he isn’t doing,” Tagore told ANI. “The INDIA has decided at our meeting that there will be an MPs delegation to Manipur. Tomorrow MPs delegation will leave. Today evening their names will be released…”
The members of the delegation include Congress leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Gaurav Gogoi, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, the Trinamool Congress’ Sushmita Dev and Nationalist Congress Party MP Mohammed Faizal.
Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes between the Kuki and the majority Meitei communities since May 3. Widespread incidents of violence and arson continue to deepen the crisis in the state. Over 140 people have been killed and nearly 60,000 have been forced to flee their homes.
Opposition parties have held the Bharatiya Janata Party governments in Manipur and at the Centre responsible for failing to contain the violence. Their criticism was bolstered after a video showing two Kuki women being paraded naked was widely shared on social media on July 19.
They have also been demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed by a discussion in the Parliament.
On Thursday, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’ Brian said that the INDIA delegation will meet people in both the valley and the hill regions of Manipur.
“The delegation will meet people in both the valley and the hill regions of the state,” he said, according to the Hindustan Times.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties in the INDIA coalition are likely to hold their next meeting in Mumbai on August 25 and 26, PTI reported.
While the first meeting of the Opposition alliance was hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna in June, the second meeting was held in Bengaluru in July and was hosted by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.