Delegation of opposition MPs leaves for Manipur

New Delhi: A delegation of opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc left for Manipur on Saturday to make an on-the-spot assessment of the ground situation in the ethnic strife-torn state.

The MPs left for the northeastern state on a commercial flight from Delhi.

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary told reporters before their departure that they want to visit as many relief camps in Manipur as possible and talk to the affected people.

"Our endeavour is to make an assessment of the situation prevailing in the state. We hope that the state government will not create any hindrance during our visit," Chaudhary said.

He said the government should make efforts to restore normalcy in Manipur, bring peace and resolve the pain and suffering of the people of the state.

The Congress leader said they will also meet Governor Anusuiya Uikey and apprise her of their experiences during the visit.

"The government wants to pass off the Manipur violence as a law-and-order situation, but it is not just that as ethnic clashes have taken place there. The government should not try and evade the issue as it is being discussed all over the world," Chaudhary said.

Ahead of the visit, Congress's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi called for an inquiry led by a retired Supreme Court judge into the violence in Manipur.

Sources said the opposition bloc had written to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who allowed the delegation to visit the state.

The delegation members would be meeting Uikey on Sunday morning.

The MPs have sought to use helicopters in Manipur and if allowed, they will visit the far-flung areas of Churachandpur, where fresh violence has taken place.

Besides Chaudhary and Gogoi, the delegation includes Sushmita Dev (Trinamool Congress), Mahua Maji (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), Kanimozhi (DMK), Mohammad Faizal (Nationalist Congress Party), Jayant Chaudhary (Rashtriya Lok Dal), Manoj Kumar Jha (Rashtriya Janata Dal), N K Premachandran (Revolutionary Socialist Party) and T Thirumavalavan (VCK).

Janata Dal (United) chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Aneel Prasad Hegde (JD-U), CPI's Sandosh Kumar, CPI-M's A A Rahim, Samajwadi Party's Javed Ali Khan, IUML's E T Mohammed Basheer, AAP's Sushil Gupta, Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), D Ravikumar (DMK), Phulo Devi Netam and K Suresh (Congress) are also part of the delegation, which is scheduled to return to Delhi on Sunday afternoon.