The Manipur government on Wednesday allowed the Congress to flag off its Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Imphal’s Palace Ground with only a limited number of participants.

The march will be flagged off on January 14 and is slated to end on March 20.

An order by the Imphal East district magistrate said that in order to prevent any untoward incidents or law and order disturbances, “only flagging off of the Yatra with limited number of participants is hereby allowed”.

Earlier in the day, the Congress had claimed that authorities had denied permission to launch the march from the ground, and that it was looking for alternative venues.

“The Chief Minister has declined to issue the ‘ground permission’ for launching the rally scheduled on January 14,” Manipur Congress chief K Meghachandra Singh had said, reported The Indian Express. “The only reason he gave was the fragile law and order situation.”

Since May 3, the northeastern state has been marred by ethnic violence between the Kukis and the Meities. Over 200 people have been killed in the state since the ethnic conflict started and nearly 60,000 persons have been forced to flee their homes.

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will be led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The march will cover 15 states: Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.