New Delhi: The Congress party has hit out at the Union government over the home minister’s all-party meet on Manipur, saying it was “too little, too late”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence from the meet, the Congress said, also showed the BJP government’s lack of seriousness on the subject, even though violence has been raging in the northeastern state for more than six weeks now.

The all-party meet called by Amit Shah is scheduled for Saturday (June 24).

Modi’s absence, the Congress said, showed his “cowardice and unwillingness to confront his failures”.

50 दिनों से जल रहा है मणिपुर, मगर प्रधानमंत्री मौन रहे।

सर्वदलीय बैठक तब बुलाई जब प्रधानमंत्री खुद देश में नहीं हैं!

साफ है, प्रधानमंत्री के लिए ये बैठक महत्वपूर्ण नहीं है।

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 22, 2023

“The Prime Minister kept quiet. Not only that, he refused to meet MLAs, political parties and his own party colleagues from Manipur. What use having an all-party meeting when the Prime Minister is not there? What use of having a meeting in Delhi when Manipur needs peace and reconciliation? The dereliction of duty by the Prime Minister is beyond comprehension. It’s bizarre,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.

“Well after 50 days of death and destruction in Manipur, Home Minister’s call for an all-party meeting is too little too late. The government only woke up after Sonia Gandhi ji’s address to the people of Manipur,” Congress leader K.C. Venugopal said. “At the outset, the PM’s absence from such a serious meeting shows his cowardice and unwillingness to confront his failures. Even when multiple delegations sought meetings with him, he had no time for them. The Home Minister himself has presided over this situation and made no progress, in fact, things have worsened since his visit. Can we expect genuine peace under his stewardship?”

“Moreover, the continuation of the partisan state government and non-implementation of the President’s Rule is a travesty,” he added.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) too said removing chief minister N. Biren Singh is an essential first step.

“With the state government in shambles and no clear line of authority established, the first step necessary is a political one…that is the removal of the Biren Singh government. Without such a step, there can be no way out of the mess created by the narrow and sectarian politics of the ruling party in the North East,” the CPI(M) said.

Manipur has been on the boil since May 3 and residents of the state have repeatedly requested the Union government to take a more active role in quelling the violence.