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Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot
| Photo Credit: PTI
A day after Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said “sorry” for the ethnic conflict in the northeastern state, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday (December 1, 2025) said a mere apology was not enough as Mr. Singh should have resigned from his chair if he failed to handle the situation.
The former Rajasthan chief minister also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for “ignoring” Manipur.
“While the chief minister has apologised to the people, it is not worthy enough to be forgiven. What happened in Manipur did not happen in any other state in the country’s history. But the Centre didn’t do anything. Prime Minister Modi didn’t even visit Manipur,” Mr. Gehlot told reporters here.
“The prime minister asked people to beat plates (during the Covid pandemic), and they listened to him. Had he gone to Manipur and called for peace, people belonging to the two warring communities might have also listened to him. But they completely ignored the state.” Mr. Gehlot’s comments came a day after Singh apologised for the ethnic conflict in Manipur, which claimed over 250 lives and rendered thousands homeless since May 2023.
“I want to say sorry for what happened in the state. Many people lost their loved ones and many had to leave their homes. I regret and want to apologise. But after seeing relative peace in the last three-four months, I hope that normalcy will be restored in the coming year.
“Whatever happened has happened… I want to appeal to all communities to forgive and forget our past mistakes and start life afresh by living together in a peaceful and prosperous Manipur,” Singh told reporters in Imphal.
“The chief minister is apologising now after 18 months of bloodshed. I don’t know what he wants to convey. If he was unable to handle the situation, he should have resigned,” Mr. Gehlot said.
Blaming the Centre and the Manipur government for the unrest, the Congress leader said, “Couldn’t the Centre change the chief minister? While it wouldn’t have been a big deal, the violence would have stopped.” “Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah have committed a big crime. They ignored Manipur as if it wasn’t a part of India. The prime minister should have gone there,” he added.
While Mr. Shah went to Manipur two-three times, Mr. Modi seems adamant on not visiting the state, Mr. Gehlot said.
Targeting the BJP government in Rajasthan, Mr. Gehlot said nine districts have been dissolved in the state yet no one is discussing the matter.
“Convenience of people must be considered in such matters, not expenditures. Work for Jaipur Metro was started, but when our government was changed, the new regime said money was wasted in it, calling it a loss-making deal. In that sense, metro networks all over the world are loss-making deals, but they have to be run to for people’s convenience,” Gehlot said.
The Rajasthan government recently decided to dissolve nine districts formed by the previous Congress dispensation, saying they were neither “practical” nor in “public interest”.
Three new divisions were also dissolved during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Saturday.
Published – January 02, 2025 11:09 am IST
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