Opposition leaders to assess ground situation in Manipur

New Delhi The delegation of INDIA bloc MPs which will visit Manipur over the weekend will assess the ground situation first-hand and then make recommendations to the government and Parliament for a solution to the problems in the violence-hit state, opposition leaders said on Friday.

Ahead of the visit, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi called for an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge into the violence in Manipur. The delegation is likely to include Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress, TMC's Sushmita Dev, JMM's Mahua Maji, DMK's Kanimozhi, NCP's Vandana Chavan, Jayant Chaudhary of RLD, Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD, N K Premachandran of RSP and T Thirumavalavan of the VCK.

Gogoi said, "The BJP wants to give the picture that everything is fine in Manipur but it is not so with violence continuing. That is why we want that an inquiry should be conducted under a retired Supreme Court judge as to how did the state government fail, how did people got access to weapons in this quantity, what was the administration doing."

"The chief minister (N Biren Singh) himself admits that there are more than 100 FIRs. Why was the administration sleeping for two months.

There should be an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge and all INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) MPs will go to Manipur and find out the truth and will put forward that truth before Parliament," he said outside Parliament.