Centre, Manipur govt working together to restore peace in state: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assured people of Manipur that the Centre and the state government are working together to restore peace in the violence-hit state and asserted that culprits behind heinous crimes against women will be given stringent punishment.

During his reply to the opposition's no-confidence motion, Modi also hit out at Rahul Gandhi over his references to 'Bharat Mata' and wondered why some people wish her death. These comments have deeply hurt the sentiments of every India, he said.

"These are people who sometime speak about the murder of democracy and the murder of the Constitution. These are the people (Congress) who divided Maa Bharati into three pieces. When the time came to free Maa Bharati of slavery, they chopped off her limbs," he said in a blistering attack on the Congress, accusing it of doing nothing but politics.

"The violence in Manipur is saddening. Crimes against women are unacceptable and the central and state governments are working together to ensure the guilty are punished," he said.

He assured people of India that peace will return to the state due to the combined efforts of the central and state governments.

Modi also spoke in detail about his government's development works for the entire northeastern region, noting that he alone had visited the area over 50 times and his ministers over 400 times.

It was the Congress government under the then prime minister Indira Gandhi which used the Air Force to attack citizens in Mizoram in 1966 and also launched a military attack on Akal Takht in the 80s, he said targeting the Congress.