The Congress has rejected the all-party meeting called by home minister Amit Shah on June 24 to discuss the Manipur situation, arguing that the Prime Minister’s absence made the exercise meaningless.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Manipur is burning for 50 days but the Prime Minister remained silent. The all-party meeting has been called when the Prime Minister is not in the country. It’s clear, this meeting is not important for the Prime Minister.”

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “The Prime Minister kept quiet. Not only that, he refused to meet MLAs, political parties and his own party colleagues from Manipur. What use having an all-party meeting when the Prime Minister is not there? What use of having a meeting in Delhi when Manipur needs peace and reconciliation? The dereliction of duty by the Prime Minister is beyond comprehension. It’s bizarre.”

Ramesh added: “It is a colossal failure of the so-called double-engine sarkar. It’s a failure of both the central and state government. The Prime Minister is the best person to show that we care, to express the anguish of India. We still hope. He is in the US and then goes to Egypt. We hope somewhere he decides to break his silence. On crucial national issues, he keeps quiet even as he gives gyan on everything under the sun.”

K.C. Venugopal, general secretary in-charge of the organisation, said: “Well after 50 days of death and destruction in Manipur, home minister Amit Shah’s call for an all-party meeting is too little, too late. The government only woke up after Sonia Gandhi’s address to the people of Manipur. At the outset, the Prime Minister’s absence from such a serious meeting shows his cowardice and unwillingness to confront his failures.”

Venugopal added: “Even when multiple delegations sought meetings with him, he had no time for them. The home minister himself has presided over this situation and made no progress, in fact things have worsened since his visit. Can we expect genuine peace under his stewardship?

"Moreover, the continuation of the partisan state government and non-implementation of President’s rule is a travesty. Any effort for peace must take place in Manipur, where warring communities are brought on the discussion table and a political solution is arrived at. This effort will lack seriousness if it is done sitting in Delhi. The entire nation expects a serious intervention from the Union government, which has been missing in action so far.”