BJP blames Congress for Manipur blockade

Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday accused the Congress and its chief minister, Okram Ibobi Singh, of engineering the economic blockade in Manipur.

“It (blockade) is by the state government, of the state government and for the state government. The Manipur chief minister and the Congress are behind the economic blockade and the people of the state are suffering because of it. The movement of goods and services is crippled and the prices are skyrocketing,” he told reporters.

Forces kept idle
The human resource development minister, who is the BJP in-charge for Manipur, said the Centre had provided the required paramilitary forces to normalise the situation in the state.

“The state government is deliberately keeping them idle. The chief minister is not listening to us at all,” he said.

On November 1, the United Naga Council (UNC) had imposed economic blockade on NH-2 (from Imphal to Dimapur) and NH-37 (from Imphal to Jiribam)— which serves as lifelines for the landlocked Manipur — demanding the release of council president Gaidon Kamei and publicity secretary Stephen Lamkang from police custody.

Javadekar dubbed the economic blockade the “Congress’s game plan for small political gains.”

“But this is not going to happen because people have seen through the Congress’s game. On the eve of the elections, they divide people. They do not rule the state; just loot it. Therefore, we are very confident that this time, people will throw the Ibobi Singh dispensation out and elect a BJP government,” he added.
DH News Service