Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the situation in Manipur and demanded that he sack the "incompetent" BJP chief minister as a first step to contain the unrest.
In the X edition, the Congress leader also said that the northeastern state has become a "battleground" because of the BJP and violence against women and children has become weaponised.
His remarks came after a clash between RAF personnel and local residents in Imphal's Singjamei area on Tuesday night, who were protesting against the killing of two students missing since July 6. Security personnel fired teargas shells and fired rubber bullets at the protesters and lathi-charged them, injuring 45 of them, mostly students.
Manipur has been at the forefront since ethnic clashes erupted in the state on May 3 when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organized in the hills to protest the majority Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. "People of Manipur have suffered for 147 days, but PM Modi has no time to visit the state. The horrific images of students who suffered in this violence have once again shocked the entire nation, Kharge said.
"It is now clear that violence against women and children has been weaponized in this dispute. The beautiful state of Manipur has become a battlefield, all thanks to the BJP," he said.
“Prime Minister Modi has sacked the incompetent Chief Minister of Manipur from BJP. This would be the first step to check further riots,” Kharge said.

In a message from the official X-handle, the Congress party targets Modi, accusing him of not caring about Manipur but about his own image.
The violence in Manipur lasted for almost 150 days, hundreds of lives were lost in the state and thousands of families were left homeless, it said.
"The recent murder of two students who went missing in July shocked the whole country. The situation in the country is not getting any better. In such a situation, the BJP government of the state should be dismissed immediately. “It is also clear that PM Modi is not concerned about the people of Manipur, he is only concerned about his image. He is just busy with campaigning for elections,” the Congress said in a post in Hindi.
Congress leader P Chidambaram said the situation in Manipur has gone from bad to worse and no section of people has confidence in the state government or Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
“In fact, the CM is the problem because of his incompetence and bias. The first step to restore normalcy in Manipur is to sack the government and the chief minister,” he said.

"I learned that 2,000 Meitos who stayed overnight in the Senapati district were forcibly evicted from the area. Ethnic cleansing has spread from the capital to the regions, regardless of whether they are ruled by Meitos or Kuks.
"Manipura has been shut down by the central government. One could even calculate that 145 days have passed since the cycle of violence started on 03.05.2023," he said. The Congress has targeted the government over the violence in Manipur, asking why the prime minister has not yet visited the troubled state.

The situation remained calm but tense in Imphal on Wednesday morning after last night.
Manipur Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and RAF personnel were seen heavily deployed across Imphal Valley.
Although the state government declared a holiday for schools on Wednesday, students of some educational institutions in Imphal were allowed to assemble in their schools.