GUWAHATI: BJP president JP Nadda on Friday claimed the party-led government tamed insurgency and stopped the criminalisation of politics in Manipur.
“Five years ago, there was the criminalisation of politics in Manipur where the anti-India forces were getting stronger each passing day. The BJP government stopped these,” Nadda said addressing a rally in state capital Imphal without taking the name of the previous Congress government.
Stating that there was instability while insurgency was at its peak, he said the insurgents used to roam about freely. There was a conflict between the hills and the (Imphal) valley. Elsewhere, there were other conflicts. The Narendra Modi government tried to restore stability through ‘sabka saath, sabka vikash’, the BJP president said.
The statement comes against the backdrop of the deadly attack on an Assam Rifles convoy in the state that left seven people – a colonel, his wife, son and four other soldiers dead.
Nadda said he remembered a Manipur where the blockades would continue not just for a day, a week or a month but for a year. That was the image of Manipur then, he said.
He also said the roads, where blood used to spill, were converted into double-lanes and dilapidated bridges were made all-weather assets by the BJP government. Work is also being expedited to connect the valley with the railway network, Nadda said.
He said Modi empowered the women of the state by building 2.6 lakh toilets.
Attacking the Congress, he said Modi gave a “Mazboot Sarkar” (strong government) while it was a “Majboor Sarkaar” (weak government) under United Progressive Alliance.
Calling Manipur the “jewel of the country”, he said the BJP started working in the state in 1980 and got its first chief minister in N Biren Singh.
Nadda was effusive of the Manipur government’s “Go to Village” mission, which was launched to ensure the delivery of services and benefits of welfare schemes at people’s doorstep.
The BJP president was in the state to formulate strategies for the Assembly elections, expected in February.