PM Modi inaugurated the Rs 8,070-crore Bairabi-Sairang railway line in Mizoram
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Manipur in what is his first visit to the state since ethnic violence erupted there in 2023. He landed in Imphal from Aizawl in Mizoram and is now travelling to Churachandpur.
Here are 10 points on this big story:
- PM Modi reached Imphal on his first visit to Manipur after ethnic violence broke out in May 2023. He was received at the Imphal airport by Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel.
- He is now travelling to Churachandpur, which is dominated by the Kuki community, and was one of the worst-affected areas in the violence that claimed at least 260 lives and left thousands displaced. PM Modi will become the first Prime Minister since Rajiv Gandhi in 1988 to visit Churachandpur.
- Around 2.30 pm, he will return to the state capital, Imphal, where he will inaugurate projects worth more than Rs 1,200 crore and address another public meeting at Kangla Fort.
- Among the major initiatives, PM Modi will inaugurate the new Manipur Police Headquarters at Mantripukhri in Imphal, built at a cost of Rs 101 crore, and the new Civil Secretariat in the same locality, costing Rs 538 crore. Other projects include a drainage and asset management improvement system worth Rs 3,647 crore and the Manipur Infotech Development (MIND) project valued at Rs 550 crore.
- "The visit of the honourable Prime Minister will pave the way for peace, normalcy and accelerated growth in the state," the Manipur Chief Secretary had said. "On behalf of the state government and the government of India, I request the people of Manipur to come forward in welcoming the PM to the state and participate in the programmes in large numbers."
- Ahead of his visit, PM Modi said they are "fully committed to furthering inclusive and all-around development of Manipur".
- The unrest began on May 3, 2023, when a "Tribal Solidarity March" was organised in the hill districts against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. What followed was one of the worst episodes of ethnic violence in the region in decades.
- PM Modi's absence from Manipur during the violence had been a major point of attack for the Opposition. In August 2023, the Congress moved a no-confidence motion in Parliament, focusing heavily on the Manipur issue. The government countered the move by criticising the Congress's past record in the northeast.
- PM Modi arrived in Imphal after his visit to Aizawl to inaugurate the Rs 8,070-crore Bairabi-Sairang railway line, which will link landlocked Mizoram with the rest of the country. He also launched the 45 km Aizawl bypass road, the Thenzawl-Sialsuk and Khankawn-Rongura roads, and an LPG bottling plant at Mualkhang.
- He also laid the foundation stone of the Chhimtuipui River Bridge on the Lawngtlai-Siaha Road and the Khelo India Multipurpose Indoor Hall. After Manipur, he is scheduled to travel to Assam.
