Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu seeking her intervention in Manipur to protect the life and property of the people of the state, averring that the Centre and the state government have failed in restoring peace and normalcy there.

While calling for presidential intervention, Kharge did not propose any particular constitutional mechanism.

He said: “I consider that it has become constitutionally imperative on the part of yourself, as the President of the Republic of India and the custodian of our Constitution, to uphold the constitutional propriety and immediately intervene to ensure the protection of the lives and properties of our own citizens in Manipur, as enshrined in the Constitution.

“I am confident that through your intervention,… the people of Manipur will again live peacefully in their homes in security with dignity,” he wrote.

In his letter, the Congress president drew attention to the fact that more than 300 people have died in the turmoil in the last 18 months during which nearly a lakh people have been internally displaced and forced to live in relief camps.

“Businesses are closed down, jobs are getting lost, professionals have left their own homes,… essential commodities are in scarcity, national highways are blocked since May of 2023, schools and educational institutions are shut down, internally displaced persons are dying of suicide in relief camps,” Kharge wrote.

Stating that the people of Manipur have lost confidence in the Union and the state governments, Kharge said: “With no succour coming from the governments involved, they are finding themselves completely isolated and helpless for more than 540 days now. Indeed, they have lost their faith in the Prime Minister of Indiaand the chief minister of the state to protect their lives and properties.’’

Kharge also flagged the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited Manipur even once since May 2023 despite the people of the state urging him to do so. The Congress has time and again appealed to the Prime Minister to visit the strife-torn state, pointing out that leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has been there thrice and Kharge once.