The Congress has urged the Centre to bring a solution to the present crisis in Manipur before the general election which is likely to be held in April, 2024.
The stand of Congress is a resolution to the conflict, Ranajit Mukherjee said while speaking to media persons at Congress Bhawan on Saturday. It’s more important than anything else, including election, the Congress national secretary added.
The Congress leader, who is also in-charge of Sikkim and Nagaland, also called on the government to bring all the conflicting parties to the negotiating table and bring about a resolution that every community of the state wants.
On the Supreme Court striking down electoral bonds, Mukherjee said, “Finally, a huge travesty has been addressed by the Supreme Court of India and the petitions filed by the Association of Democratic Reforms, CPI-M, Congress leaders and others.”
It proves what the Congress has been saying all along about the electoral financial resources, that a system was created in which it ensures that all donations will go to only the ruling party, he added.
Earlier, the Congress leader also accused the ruling BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of backing out from what they promised repeatedly before 2014.
Modi, while campaigning during the run-up to the 2014 general elections as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, had himself promised to provide the MSP based on the recommendations of the late MS Swaminathan, whom the BJP government very recently awarded with Bharat Ratna. BJP should have implemented his recommendations as that would be an equally great tribute to him, Mukherjee confided.
The Congress party made a historical announcement on Tuesday at Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh promising to provide legal guarantee for MSP for various crops. This has been the long pending demand of the farmers from across the country, he informed.
Mentioning that Modi promised to double the farmers’ income by 2022, he said 10 years have passed and farmers’ income has dwindled after taking into account various factors like inflation and other input costs. More farmers have been committing suicide during the Modi’s regime than in the past, he alleged.
“The Demonetisation and faulty implementation of the GST, as our leader Rahul Gandhi said, proved to be the weapons of mass destruction for the economy and employment.
It broke the back of the small and the medium industry, which provides maximum employment in the country” he mentioned.
Further, he said that the price rise is at a historic high. The gas cylinder prices have more than doubled, the prices of diesel and petrol have also doubled despite the fact that the crude prices in the international market today are far less than what they were before 2014, he added.
“Country’s debt during the last 10 years has multiplied three times from about Rs 55 lakh crores in 2014 to Rs 185 lakh crores now”, Ranajit said.
Farmers have a right to protest for justice and the Congress is committed ensuring minimum support price (MSP) once it comes to power, the Congress leader said.
The continued unrest in Manipur for more than nine months without any genuine effort at resolution by the Modi government is the biggest ‘Anyay’ in the country, he said, adding “We are still awaiting the Prime Minister to speak up on Manipur”.
It is a matter of just a few more months, the ‘Anyaaykaal’ will end very soon. The countdown has already begun, he added.
