Oppn INDIA members' visit to Manipur mere show-off: Anurag Thakur

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday alleged that the visit of members of opposition bloc INDIA to Manipur was a "mere show-off".

After arriving at Kolkata on Saturday morning, the senior BJP leader alleged that when Manipur used to burn under previous governments, those visiting the northeastern state now did not utter a single word in the Parliament.

"When Manipur used to remain shut for months, they had not spoken a word," he said.

Thakur said that when the delegation returns from Manipur, the members of the team "will not allow Parliament to function".

"In this context, my request to Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is to bring the same delegation to West Bengal, where atrocities are happening against women," he said.

"Does the Congress oppose the way the Mamata Banerjee government is holding on to power through killings?" he added.

He asked whether the INDIA bloc will visit Rajasthan where "crimes against women are taking place" and submit reports on West Bengal and Rajasthan.

A delegation of 21 MPs from the opposition bloc INDIA reached Imphal on Saturday to assess the situation in ethnic strife-torn Manipur. The team will visit several relief camps to meet victims of the ethnic clashes that broke in the northeastern state on May 3.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes since early May between the majority Meitei community, concentrated in the Imphal valley, and the Kukis, occupying the hills. Over 160 people have been killed in the violence so far.