New Delhi: The ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur resonated in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (March 11) as opposition members questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to visit the strife-torn state and the Union government’s handling of the crisis, during the discussion on the Manipur budget for 2025-26.
The Manipur budget was taken up along with the discussion on the supplementary demands for grants for 2024-25, and excess demand for grants 2021-22.
Both Manipur MPs criticised the Manipur budget for not addressing the situation of the 60,000 people who had been displaced by the violence, labelling the outlay “anti-people”. Other opposition members said that the budget document did not reflect the ground reality in the state which is now under President’s Rule.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her reply, however, pointed to “misgovernance” during the United Progressive Alliance rule and said that “faultline of misgovernance” should be kept in mind.
No separation for hills and valley in budget
Outer Manipur MP Alfred Kangam Arthur said that fund allocations for social welfare schemes including MGNREGA have not been disbursed since 2023. Importantly he said that the budget documents lack a separate section for the hills and the valley.
“It is a point of order that cannot be bypassed. The budget has to clearly state, there is a notification of the ministry for home affairs, today the state is being run by the ministry for home affairs-the hill valley separation is mandatory. How will we know which is going where? For that reason I would request the finance minister to put this off and bring in the actual budget so we can discuss what is going to the hill and the valley and a little bit about the hardships that the state is going through,” he said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla conducts proceedings in the House during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Photo: Sansad TV/PTI.
Calling the budget “anti-people,” Arthur said that it does not address those displaced in the violence or any rebuilding efforts.
“This budget is anti-people because you don’t talk of the 60,000 that have been displaced. All of their homes broken, damaged. There is no reflection in the budget for the displaced. The damage that has been done by separate entities has crossed Rs 20,000 crore. I don’t see anything in the budget that is even worth that. My state is a small state but we are not small people. We are equal in this country,” he said.
“I implore the conscience of this House once again. My rising to speak again and again if it is not making sense to this august house, give me the privilege to relinquish my seat, and not come back again. Coming here and speaking again and again and going back home and seeing it not being executed on the ground level, do you know how painful it is to go back home that is empty, where people are on the streets? And today you bring in a budget that does not address a single part of those affected. I wonder, my blame was solely on one person but I had hoped for more from the leadership of the nation.”
Missing prime minister
Inner Manipur MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam said that the state budget has to be presented in the nation’s parliament says enough about the condition of Manipur and its exclusion
“In the beginning of the crisis in 2023 I was hurt that the prime minister did not visit, today I am almost indifferent. Whether he visits the state or not does not matter anymore. But the rest of the country should know that there is no visa issue for the prime minister to visit Manipur. He may go to Ukraine and talk about peace when his own citizens have been slaughtered and more than 60,000 people have been rendered homeless-this kind of behaviour cannot be justified by anybody who swears by nationalism,” he said.
He said that the fiscal liability of Manipur is to the tune of 37.07% of GSDP but the budget does not reflect anything to fix the economic crisis. “How can we expect that kind of a state with 60,000 people displaced to deal with this crisis without the help of the centre? We are not asking for UN interventions or international financial institutions, we are asking for additional source of money from the federal government as a constituent state of India,” he asked.
“Had this crisis happened in Bihar and UP you would have felt the exclusion in this budget.”
Not just MPs from Manipur, other opposition members also raised the ongoing violence in the state and the prime minister’s absence.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that while Modi had himself stated during the no-confidence motion debate in August 2023 that peace would be brought soon to Manipur, why was president’s rule imposed.
“The home minister should take moral responsibility for the imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur. Two years ago when unrest started, home minister said in Manipur that he would return soon. After two years, even the home minister has not visited. I want the home minister to take responsibility, and the prime minister to visit the state. Peace will not come to the north-east and Manipur at gunpoint,” he said.
TMC MP Saayoni Ghosh speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Photo: Sansad TV/PTI.
TMC MP Saayoni Ghosh also spoke about the prime minister’s absence while referring to those affected by the violence in the state.
“After 2022 the prime minister has not visited Manipur. But in the same time he has made 40 international and 240 domestic trips. The home minister Amit Shah visited Manipur only once. The finance minister and the BJP party president have not visited. There’s a saying that ‘Nero fiddled as Rome burned’,” she said.
Her speech was repeatedly interrupted by treasury benches. Junior home minister Nityanand Rai said that when Shah visited Manipur, he visited areas that the opposition members would not dare to.
“He went to those areas where under their rule 10,000 people were killed in violence. Why are they misleading the house instead of talking about the budget,” said Rai.
‘Faultlines of misgovernance’
During her reply to the debate, Sitharaman lashed out at the Congress and the UPA regime for its “misgovernance” in Manipur.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Photo: Sansad TV/PTI.
Sitharaman said that while Shah had visited Manipur in 2023, during the UPA years no minister visited when violence had struck. Even in 1993 when violence took place between the Naga and Kuki communities killing over 700 people, Sitharaman said it was MoS home affairs, Rajesh Pilot who had addressed parliament and leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj did not press for the prime minister’s reply.
“Did the prime minister who served from 1991-1996 ever visit Manipur? In 1993, 750 people died in violence. Will they first apologise for that? The faultline of misgovernance should be kept in mind. In 1997-98 there were further clashes during the tenure of I.K Gujral. Did he visit Manipur?” she said.
Sitharaman said that the worst blockade in Manipur happened in 2011 when LPG costed Rs 2,000 per cylinder and “this was during their time.”
“With this kind of neglect I hope Congress does not speak about who is going and who is not,” she said.
