Will meet all groups, communities in Manipur: 5-member TMC delegation

Imphal: A five-member delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs, which reached the Manipur capital on Wednesday afternoon, said they would meet all groups and communities of the violence-hit state and listen to their problems.

The TMC has been alleging that "divisive" policies of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Manipur have led to the ethnic strife which has claimed over 150 lives.

Upon landing in Imphal, Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev told reporters, “Our leader Mamata Banerjee has sent a delegation of five MPs to listen to all the sides. Banerjee had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier and wanted to visit the state. But the home minister did not facilitate her visit. Later, she directed us to visit the state for a day or two."

"We want to assure the people of Manipur that our leaders Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee want peace. We want to hear and listen to all because we want everyone to coexist. We will take a helicopter to Churachandpur and visit the relief camps in the evening. We also plan to meet the governor," Dev said.

The Rajya Sabha MP said the TMC chief has instructed us to meet members of all the communities and people of all religions to understand the ground reality.

“We will stand by the people in Parliament," she said, adding "the central and state governments has somehow not been able to contain the situation." The TMC delegation comprises Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien, Rajya Sabha MPs Dola Sen and Sushmita Dev and Lok Sabha MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Kalyan Banerjee.

Sen said, "We are here to hear the plight of the common people of Manipur." More than 150 people have lost their lives, and several injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.