Opposition seeks visit by all-party delegation to Manipur as Shah chairs meet

The Congress on Saturday demanded immediate sacking of Chief Minister N Biren Singh while the Samajwadi Party and a few others sought imposition of Presidents rule in the state that has witnessed sporadic violence in since May 3An allparty meeting convened by Union Home Minister Amit Shah had a detailed discussion on the situation in Manipur during which several opposition parties sought an allparty delegation visit to the northeastern state but the government remained noncommittal PTI reported quoting sourcesHowever the government asserted it was doing its best to bring back normalcy there sources saidHome Minister Amit Shah said all efforts are being made to restore peace in Manipur on instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the BJPs Manipur incharge Sambit Patra told reporters after the meetingThe home minister also told the meeting that since the violence began in the state there has not been a single day when he did not speak to PM Modi on the situation or the prime minister did not give instructions Patra saidLeaders of various political parties including the BJP Congress Trinamool Congress DMK AIADMK Aam Aadmi Party and the Left attended the meeting which was convened by the home minister to discuss the prevailing situation in the stateAlso readManipur Situation tense but under control says PoliceNearly 120 people have lost their lives and over 3000 are injured since the ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3Those who attended the meeting included BJP president J P Nadda former Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh Congress Derek OBrien TMC Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Singh NPP Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang Sikkim Krantikari Morcha Birendra Prasad Baishya Asom Gana Parishad M Thambi Durai AIADMK Tiruchi Siva DMK Pinaki Misra BJD Sanjay Singh AAP Manoj Jha RJD and Priyanka Chaturvedi Shiv SenaAfter the meeting of our leaders in Patna within 24 hours the Opposition spoke in one united voice for Manipur the Northeast and India OBrien told reporters after the threehourlong meeting held at the Parliament House complexThe Trinamool Congress demanded an allparty delegation be sent to the violencehit state within a week as it questioned the governments handling of the situation wondering if the government was trying to turn Manipur into KashmirIbobi Singh later told reporters that peace was not possible under the present state government headed Chief Minister N Biren Singh He demanded Singhs immediate replacementIbobi Singh said it was unfortunate that he was not allowed more time to put across his points towards the end of the meetingAsked whether the home minister presented a roadmap for peace he replied in the negativeThe Congress and some other parties also demanded that an allparty delegation be sent to Manipur and we hope that the prime minister will hold a similar meeting after his return from foreign trip he saidThe request for a visit by an allparty delegation was raised by most of the parties but the government remained noncommittal sources saidRJD MP Manoj Jha said the the entire opposition said in the meeting that the people have no trust on the person heading the state government and you cannot have peace if that person is inchargeIt was absolutely an open discussion The entire opposition said that there is complete mistrust in the political leadership of Manipur The entire opposition went into the extent of saying that the there is no trust in the person heading the administration in Manipur he saidSPs Ram Gopal Yadav and onetwo other leaders sought imposition of Presidents rule alleging the state government has failed to maintain peace and the administration has collapsed the sources saidTiruchi Siva of the DMK said the opposition requested that an allparty delegation has to be sent to ManipurIt is not a law and order breakdown to be controlled by police and army or Assam Rifles It is a failure of the governance in the state and the union government he saidSiva said the home minister responded by saying the government has deployed more police and the opposition should trust him as he is looking after itThe home minister asserted he will restore peace Siva said adding the opposition also expressed concern over Prime Minister Narendra Modi not expressing concern so far over the situation in the stateShiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said all parties expressed concern over the Manipur situation and sought immediate government action to bring back normalcyUnion ministers Pralhad Joshi Nityanand Rai and Ajay Kumar Mishra Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and Director of Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka also attended the meetingViolent clashes broke out in Manipur after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe ST statusShah had visited the state for four days last month and met a cross sections of people in his efforts to bring back peace in the northeastern stateOpposition parties have been criticising the government for its handling of the situation as violence has not stopped even after 50 days PTI