PM's Manipur visit a "half-hearted effort" lacking empathy, compassion: Congress leader KC Venugopal

New Delhi [India], September 13 (ANI): Congress leader and party's General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday over his visit to Manipur, calling it a "display of how sorely lacking in empathy and compassion a leader can be."
Venugopal slammed the Centre for not "having the courage" to make a genuine attempt at peace in the region, claiming that the government has neither presented a solution to the "deep social rift which caused the civil war".
"Manipur is burning since 2023, and he found time to pay a visit today - after 2.5 years. This visit too, is a half-hearted measure with him spending barely a few hours there, and is clubbed with a visit to Mizoram. Neither has his government presented a solution to address the deep social rift that caused the civil war, nor do they have the courage to bring warring groups together and make a genuine attempt at peace," he said in a post on X.
Alleging that the Prime Minister is treating his Manipur visit like a "PR event", he said that the "insensitive and self-aggrandising stunt" is a "mockery of the people of Manipur."
"As this belated, face-saving farce takes place today, one is left to wonder whether those who peddle hate every single day can ever be messengers of peace," his post read.
Party MP from Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi also criticised the PM saying he should have visited the state much earlier.
"I am glad that he has decided after 2 years that it's worth his visiting. He should have visited much long before. It's very unfortunate that he has allowed what is happening there to happen for so long, so many people to get killed and so many people to go through so much strife before he has decided to visit," Priyanka Gandhi told reporters in Kerala's Wayanad.
Earlier today, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of several development projects worth over Rs 7,300 crore in Manipur's Churachandpur district.
As part of his government's focus on inclusive and sustainable growth, PM Modi laid the foundation for the Manipur Urban Roads and drainage and asset management improvement project worth over Rs 3,600 crore.
He also laid the foundations for five National Highway projects worth more than Rs 2,500 crore, the Manipur Infotech Development (MIND) project, and the Working Women Hostels at nine locations across the state.
PM Modi also dedicated Mizoram's first rail line between Bairabi and Sairang to the nation, highlighting how the broad-gauge line will be a "lifeline of transformation" by helping people avail better services and local businesses will get access to the rest of the country. (ANI)