Amid Parliament Logjam, Over 20 Opposition MPs To Visit Manipur On Saturday

Amid a logjam in Parliament and a slugfest between the centre and opposition over the ethnic violence in Manipur, MPs from the opposition INDIA front will visit the state on Saturday and Sunday to assess the situation there. 

Over 20 opposition MPs from the 26-party alliance will visit Manipur this weekend and get a first-hand account of the situation, Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore told news agency PTI. 

Sources from the opposition alliance said the delegation is expected to have one Member of Parliament or their representatives from each of the 26 parties. The MPs will visit both the valley and hill regions of the state, as well as some relief camps. 

The opposition MPs will head to the state exactly a month after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's two-day visit on June 29 and 30. The first day of Mr Gandhi's visit had seen high drama after his convoy was stopped at Bishnupur, 20 kilometres from Imphal, over security concerns. He was headed to Churachandpur, one of the districts that have borne the brunt of the violence. 

The Congress leader then went back to Imphal and took a helicopter to Churachandpur.

Officials claimed the convoy was stopped as there was a big group of women protesters on the route that Mr Gandhi was travelling on. Congress sources had, however, said the women were protesting against the police for stopping Mr Gandhi and didn't want him to turn back. They said the women wanted him to visit Churachandpur as well as their village. 

On the second day of his visit, the Congress leader had posted, "It's heartbreaking to see and listen to the plight of those who have lost loved ones and homes due to the violence in Manipur. There is a cry for help in the face of every brother, sister and child I meet."

Taking a dig at the centre, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress is also part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), had questioned last week why so many central teams had been sent to Bengal, but none to Manipur. 

"We want to express our solidarity with Manipur. The BJP had sent so many central teams to Bengal (after the panchayat polls), why was no central team sent to the northeastern state," she asked.

Both Houses of Parliament have been repeatedly adjourned since the monsoon session began on July 20 over the opposition's demand for a long discussion on the violence in Manipur under Rule 267. Opposition parties have also demanded a statement from the Prime Minister in Parliament, which the centre has turned down, stating that Home Minister Amit Shah will respond to the Opposition. 

The Congress has also moved a no-confidence motion in a bid to get the government to respond on the Manipur issue, which was accepted by the Lok Sabha Speaker yesterday. A similar motion was also moved by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which is the ruling party in Telangana. 

Over 140 people have lost their lives and more than 3,000 have been injured in the ethnic violence in Manipur, which began on May 3 when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Over 50,000 people remain displaced.