AMID DEMANDS from the Opposition for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit ethnic violence-hit Manipur, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday hit out at the Congress saying when the party was in power at the Centre and in Manipur, it failed to address the issues in Manipur and its ministers did not visit the state.
Replying to a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the passage of the Manipur Budget for the current fiscal and vote on account for the first six months of 2025-26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the House that Manipur has the full support of the Centre. She said the government is working to restore normalcy in the state.
The Finance Minister said a “contingency fund” worth `500 crore has been created for Manipur. She said PM Modi addressed the Manipur issue in the House and spoke about how he was handling the situation.
“There have been situations much more in terms of human and asset loss (in the past)… I heard some members talking about the double-engine government of the BJP. There have been double-engine governments of the Congress. What kind of agitations and loss of lives happened then. Your double engine didn’t do anything. In fact, it worsened the situation. We are all committed to bring Manipur back to normalcy,” said Sitharaman.
“In the 1990s, during the double-engine Congress government, how many people died (in Manipur)? Why in the 1990s, the then Prime Minister did not visit the state, even the Home Minister did not visit (Manipur),” said the minister.
Sitharaman “reminded” the House that between 2002 and 2017, Manipur had a Congress government. “(In this period) Manipur witnessed 628 bandhs… Several blockades happened. The state exchequer lost nearly `2,828 crore. And the worst economic blockade happened in 2011, lasting over 120 days, causing severe shortages,” she said.
She said in the NDA regime, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Manipur for four days and went to camps of different communities. “From 1990 till 2014 when the Congress was in power, not a minister went there… But today they will mock… Please compare how we have handled Manipur and how you did,” said Sitharaman.
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“In 1993, Rajkumar Dorendra Singh of the Congress was the chief minister of Manipur and a major flare-up happened between Kukis and Nagas. 750 deaths happened at the time. 350 villages were burnt. Neither the then PM P V Narasimha Rao nor (the then) home minister Shankarrao Chavan went to Manipur. Now these people are questioning us.”
She said in 1997-98, when former prime minister I K Gujral was in office, there was a major clash and that he didn’t visit the state.
On the steps being taken to restore normalcy in the state, she said: “Collective efforts are being made by the state and the Centre. Except for some sporadic incidents in the fringe areas, and the unfortunate incident of March 8, 2025 in Kangpokpi, there has been a decreasing trend in cases of deaths, injuries, firing and arson. Currently, there are 286 companies of CAPF and 137 columns of Army and Assam Rifles. Both are deployed with state police… Recovery of arms and ammunition looted is being done.”
She said 7,000 houses have been approved under the PM Awas Yojana for displaced people and engagement with civil society is on.
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She attacked the Congress for saying that the Make in India scheme was “dead” and said the government has taken several steps to strengthen the manufacturing sector, including defence production.
“Make in India has actually given us good results. We took step after step, after step to strengthen the manufacturing of this country,” she said.
Targeting the Congress, she said: “You claim that Make in India is not working. Doesn’t that mean that the national manufacturing policy was flawed? Are you suggesting that? It is your policy. But it remained a policy, it didn’t find an action group. And when we make it an actionable policy, we bring in Make in India, they have problems,” she said.