Modi govt has failed people of Northeast on every front: Congress

New Delhi [India], April 17 : With the political scene heating up for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls over a range of issues in northeastern states, the Congress on Wednesday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of being 'failed' people of the region on every front.
Invoking the ethnic violence in Manipur, Congress General Secretary for Communication Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Prime Minister "barely even acknowledged" the crisis.
"Since May 3rd, 2023, when large-scale violence broke out in Manipur, the Prime Minister has not visited the state even once. He has not even given an appointment to, or taken a call from, the Chief Ministers, MLAs, or any other political representatives of the state. In fact, he has barely even acknowledged the crisis, barring a three-minute speech that he delivered when forced to by the Opposition. In the meantime, @RahulGandhi has visited the state twice to understand the situation and extend solidarity to the people of Manipur," the Congress leader said in a series of post on X.
The Congress MP listed 5 issues, including Manipur violence, claiming that the BJP failed to acknowledge them.
He further alleged that just four days after PM Modi claimed that "Timely intervention by Centre saved Manipur," fresh violence in Imphal district claimed two more lives.
"Although it has been dropped from the news cycle, the "civil war"-like situation in Manipur continues to persist. It has been more than 10 months since the conflict erupted, and contrary to what the PM would have us believe, lasting peace is still nowhere in sight. More than 200 people have been killed, more than 60,000 displaced, and thousands of weapons have been stolen from the state police," the leader said.
Chief Minister Biren Singh, who has ignored repeated calls to step down, is now violating the model code of conduct by giving campaign speeches at purportedly "non-political" meetings to address the prevailing situation, he added.
Jairam Ramesh also accused the Center of underutilizing funds under the Ministry for Development of the North East Region (MDoNER) and PM-DevINE.
He claimed that since 2014, the Modi government has used the full budget of DoNER only twice.
"While the UPA consistently utilised 90 per cent of the budget, the Modi government's utilisation regularly falls to just 60 per cent. In January 2023, in the run up to elections in Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura, the Modi government 'doubled' the budget for the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region. Given its history of bluffing with its big fund allocations and dramatic underutilization, we await the details of how much in funds has actually reached the North East," he added.
The Congress MP further crticised the BJP over the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act (FCA) and said that, "In August 2023, the FCA was cleared by Parliament without substantive debate. Soon after, both Nagaland and Mizoram assemblies passed resolutions against the implementation of the Act. It was met with sharp criticism because it drastically weakens safeguards against the over-exploitation of forest resources, and strips tribal communities of their Constitutional rights."
He also raised the alleged claim by China on Indian land and claimed that the neighboring country has now built at least 2 villages, many kilometres inside Arunachal Pradesh, according to satellite images.
"There have been multiple instances of PLA troops kidnapping Indian citizens on Indian soil. In fact, the BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh alleged that the PLA had abducted 19-year-old Miram Taron for ten days in 2022," he said.
After 10 years in power and 20 rounds of bilateral talks, the Modi government has been unable to do anything to stop China from occupying Indian territory, "renaming" Indian towns, or denying the Indianness of people from Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress leader added.
He also said that the Modi government has failed to gain any meaningful ground towards resolving the political crisis in Nagaland.
"The longer that talks languish, the more splinter groups emerge to make additional demands, further complicating an already murky issue. The centre is now in talks with three separate political groupings," he added.