GUWAHATI: Rahul Gandhi's visit to the violently divided state of Manipur, according to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday, was nothing more than a media stunt and the senior politician is attempting to capitalise politically on the unfortunate circumstances there. Sarma pointed out that both the federal and state governments are working to handle the situation in Manipur and that such one-day trips won't affect the situation locally.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma reacting to the matter said that, “The central and state governments are tasked with controlling the situation in Manipur given the circumstances...There is no need for any political leader to go there because they won't be able to resolve the issue; if their visit has any positive results, that is one thing; otherwise, it will just be a newsworthy incident. We should not attempt to gain political advantage from a state's tragic situation.”
He further said that, “It would have been a different situation if Rahul Gandhi's visit had a beneficial impact on the issue that the state and the Centre are addressing. But the media coverage only lasted one day. No outcome is required to occur. We shouldn't exploit the issue for partisan purposes.”
Between the BJP and the Congress, Rahul Gandhi's two-day trip to Manipur has become a point of controversy. On Thursday, the former president of the Congress had to take a helicopter to get to his destination when his convoy got stuck in the middle of a visit to relief camps in Churachandpur.
On his Twitter page, Congress politician Jairam Ramesh posted footage of villagers asking why Rahul Gandhi was not permitted to speak with the state's residents. Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP's IT unit, also posted several images and asserted that villagers had discouraged Gandhi's visit and that his "Mohabbat ki Dukaan" had found no takers.
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