New Delhi: A delegation of 20 MPs from the Opposition bloc INDIA will pay a two-day visit to violence-hit Manipur starting Saturday. The delegation will take stock of the ground situation and then make recommendations to the government and Parliament for a solution, news agency PTI reported. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi Friday, Congress MP Naseer Hussain said the leaders from 16 parties will visit the affected areas and meet people both in the valley and the hills. They will also visit two relief camps and assess the situation.
"We have got permissions from the state government to visit the affected areas as also the relief camps. We have also got permission to meet the governor, who has allowed time to the delegation on Sunday," PTI quoted Hussain as saying.
The delegation will include Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K Suresh and Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress, TMC's Sushmita Dev, JMM's Mahua Maji, DMK's Kanimozhi, NCP's Mohammad Faizal, Jayant Chaudhary of RLD, Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD, NK Premachandran of RSP, T Thirumavalavan of VCK, JD(U) chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Aneel Prasad Hegde of JD-U, CPI's Sandosh Kumar, CPI(M)'s AA Rahim, Samajwadi Party's Javed Ali Khan, IUML's E T Mohammed Basheer, AAP's Sushil Gupta, Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-Uddhav Thackeray), D Ravikumar (DMK), and Phulo Devi Netam of Congress.
Speaking on the visit, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant told ANI, “Plan is to bring peace and harmony between the communities. Manipur is a state in India and now the Prime Minister has a serious objection to the word 'INDIA' itself. Let them play politics. Right now, what is required is to maintain peace. It is really disheartening to see the situation in Manipur. A serious cognisance has to be taken by the government which is not being taken. State government is almost paralysed, there is no action from the Centre to impose the President's Rule. We, the Opposition parties, are patriotic parties and as patriots, we must make an effort to bring the communities together.”
Terming the Opposition bloc as an alliance not just for the elections but also to raise people's voice, CPI MP P Santhosh Kumar said, “It will be a two-day visit and we will try to cover as many camps and affected areas as possible.”
“The situation in Manipur is bad. The Government is neither able to control the violence nor do they want to discuss it in Parliament. Team INDIA, the entire Opposition has been demanding discussion under Rule 267. But the government is running away from discussion. We are demanding PM's statement but he is not coming to the Parliament. So, it was decided that we go to Manipur, assess its real situation and present it before the country,” AAP MP Sushil Gupta told ANI.
Notably, the visit comes in the wake of the opposition demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament on the situation in violence-hit Manipur, followed by a full-fledged discussion on it.