‘Insult to injury’: Jairam Ramesh slams ‘2 AM proclamation’ of President’s rule in Manipur ahead of Modi’s Bangkok trip

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has questioned the Narendra Modi government’s move to ‘bulldoze’ the proclamation on President’s Rule in Manipur on Wednesday night, leaving just an hour for debate. 

Ramesh also slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his Thailand visit while ‘ignoring’ Manipur.

“Frequent Flier flies off again. This time it is to Bangkok. Look East by all means but why continue to ignore Manipur?” Ramesh said in a post on X on Thursday, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed on a visit to Thailand and Sri Lanka. Modi will participate in the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand and then proceed on a state visit to Sri Lanka.

Frequent Flier flies off again. This time it is to Bangkok. Look East by all means but why continue to ignore Manipur?

“And why bulldoze the proclamation on President’s Rule in the state at 2AM this morning in the Lok Sabha, leaving just an hour for debate and discussion but just about enough time for the Home Minister‘s falsehoods, twists, and distortions? This is adding insult to injury,” the Congress leader said.

Early Thursday, the Lok Sabha adopted a Statutory Resolution confirming the imposition of the President’s rule in Manipur. A proposal seeking approval of imposition of President’s rule in Manipur was discussed in the Lok Sabha. Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved statutory resolution regarding President’s Rule in Manipur in the Lok Sabha late Wednesday.

President’s Rule in Manipur

The President’s Rule was imposed in strife-torn Manipur in February this year. President’s rule can be imposed in any state for six months. It is necessary to get the imposition approved in Parliament.

The resolution ‘Consideration on the Proclamation issued by the President on the 13th February 2025 under article 356 (1) of the Constitution in relation to the State of Manipur’ was adopted by the Lok Sabha by a voice vote.

Amit Shah said the ethnic violence in Manipur had started following an order of the state’s high court. “The day the order came, we sent the central forces by air. There was no delay on our part [in taking action],” he was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

Shah said that so far, 260 people have died in the violence that started in May 2023 and 80 percent of them lost their lives within the first month.