Rahul Gandhi In Manipur, His 3rd Visit To Violence-Hit State

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today visited a relief camp in Manipur for people displaced by the ethnic violence in the northeastern state. Several videos and photos showed the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha interacting with people in the camp in Tuibong village in Churachandpur district.

He was also seen greeting the local leaders, workers and volunteers outside the camp.

Rahul Gandhi, who arrived at the Imphal airport this afternoon, visited the Jiribam Higher Secondary School relief camp earlier today and offered support to the victims of violence there.

Hours before his visit, suspected insurgents fired at an armoured vehicle of the security forces in Jiribam this morning.

"LoP Rahul Gandhi visits Jiribam Higher Secondary School relief camp, meets victims of violence and offers support in their darkest hour. His third visit to Manipur post-violence shows his unwavering commitment to the people's cause," the Congress said in a post on X.

Mr Gandhi is scheduled to call on Governor Anusuiya Uikey at 5.30 pm after which he will address a press conference at the Manipur Congress office at 6.15 pm.

Congress legislature party leader O Ibobi Singh said, "Mr Gandhi visited the state twice since the outbreak of the violence on May 3 last year. He has visited relief camps to learn about the pains and sorrow of the people."

This is Mr Gandhi's third visit to the state and first, after the Lok Sabha elections, in which the Congress won both constituencies in the ethnic violence-hit state.

His first visit to take stock of the situation in the hill state came nearly two months after the violence when he visited Churachandpur, one of the worst-hit districts in the Manipur ethnic strife.

Mr Gandhi's next visit came during the second leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Congress kicked off the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur with a promise to "bring peace and harmony" to the ethnic violence-hit state.

Clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 last year to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The violence has claimed more than 180 lives and left thousands homeless.