Did Assam Congress Criticize PM Modi's Late Manipur Visit?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Timely leadership is crucial during crises.
- Political interventions need to address immediate concerns.
- The BJP's approach in Manipur criticized for inconsistency.
- Historical accuracy is important in political discourse.
- Unity and harmony should be prioritized over divisive rhetoric.
Guwahati, Sep 15 (NationPress) The Congress party's Assam unit publicly condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent trip to Manipur, asserting that his response came over two years too late, as the state suffered through a prolonged period of ethnic conflict.
During a press briefing in Guwahati, senior Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi pointed out what he referred to as the Prime Minister's misguided priorities.
"For more than two-and-a-half years, Manipur has been in turmoil. Throughout that time, the Prime Minister visited 39 foreign nations, some multiple times, yet he did not deem it necessary to visit Manipur until now," Bordoloi stated.
The Congress labeled PM Modi's visit to the troubled region as “too little, too late,” arguing that the crisis demanded immediate attention from the nation's leadership when communal violence first erupted in May 2023.
Congress leaders noted that they had consistently called for Prime Minister Modi to visit Manipur during the peak of the unrest, but their requests went unanswered.
The opposition party also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading misinformation during PM Modi's trip to the Northeast.
Bordoloi criticized remarks made about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Assam, claiming that the Prime Minister misrepresented facts regarding the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition's role during Operation Sindoor.
"The evidence is clear -- Rahul Gandhi has always championed the Indian armed forces. To imply otherwise is a deliberate distortion," he asserted.
Furthermore, the Congress questioned the BJP's tendency to invoke India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, for political attacks.
Bordoloi emphasized that such claims were not only historically inaccurate but also required factual verification before being repeated publicly.
Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, added another layer to the criticism, highlighting contradictions in the BJP's political narrative.
Referring to the celebrations of Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika's centenary, Saikia noted that while the iconic singer endorsed harmony and unity through his music, the BJP's divisive rhetoric starkly contrasted those values.
Through these statements, the Congress aimed to depict the BJP's approach towards Manipur and the Northeast as inconsistent, reactive, and driven more by political opportunism than by genuine concern for the populace.