PM Modi's Manipur visit going to be a farce: Congress

After 29 long months of silence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally discovered Manipur on the map. His much-touted visit to the violence-scarred state on 13 September, however, will last less than three hours, long enough to cut some ribbons, pose for photographs, and then swiftly fly out again.

The visit, the first since ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities erupted in May 2023, has been described by the Congress as a “farce” rather than a force for peace. Party Rajya Sabha MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh quipped on X that the trip would be of “less than three hours”, dismissing it as political theatre rather than genuine statesmanship.

Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, never one to mince words, added that the exercise was a “mere formality” that ought to have been undertaken two years earlier. “Had he gone earlier, the situation could have been different today,” Gehlot remarked.

The itinerary itself seems almost designed for satire. Modi will interact with internally displaced people in Churachandpur and Imphal, a rare acknowledgement of the thousands rendered homeless, before unveiling development projects worth a dazzling Rs 8,500 crore.

The Prime Minister’s Office, in its usual flourish, spoke of “inclusive, sustainable and holistic development” and announced projects worth over Rs 7,300 crore in Churachandpur and another Rs 1,200 crore in Imphal. One wonders if the displaced families, still living in relief camps, will be reassured by foundation stones and platitudes.

The political opposition has been scathing. For weeks, the Congress has said such a rushed trip is “an insult” to the people of Manipur, who have waited in vain for nearly two-and-a-half years.

So now it is official. The PM will spend less than 3 hours in Manipur tomorrow. This visit instead of providing a force for peace and harmony is actually going to be a farce. https://t.co/kNuipxINO9

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 12, 2025

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Their anger is not difficult to understand: more than 260 people have been killed since the ethnic clashes began, and tens of thousands have been displaced.

The Centre, in a tacit admission of failure, imposed President’s Rule in February after chief minister N. Biren Singh resigned, placing the state Assembly in suspended animation. President's rule was subsequently extended for a further six month with effect from 13 August.

In the two years since violence tore through Manipur, Modi has not exactly been grounded. According to available figures, between May 2023 and April 2024, he undertook 162 domestic trips and 14 international ones, not a single stop in Manipur among them.

In the following months, he kept his passport busy: at least a dozen foreign jaunts to destinations ranging from Japan and China to the UK, Maldives, Ghana, Brazil, and Canada. Government data shows that just five of these 2025 trips together cost the exchequer over Rs 67 crore.

So while the state of Manipur burned, the prime minister found time for summits, ceremonies and stadium crowds abroad, and more than a hundred domestic visits elsewhere at home. But the families in relief camps in Churachandpur and Imphal had to wait until September 2025 for the promise of a three-hour cameo.

For a leader who prides himself on symbolism, the symbolism here is deafening. When Manipur needed his presence, he was absent. When Manipur needed empathy, he offered silence. And when he finally arrives, it is as a visitor in transit, not as a prime minister determined to confront the crisis.

Perhaps the only “holistic development” achieved in these two years has been the expansion of Modi’s own travel diary. For Manipur, the dividends remain elusive.

With PTI inputs