Prime Minister Narendra Modi “cannot escape the constitutional culpability of not following “rajdharma,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged on Saturday, a day after fresh violence erupted in Manipur.

The word “rajdharma” last shared space with Modi in headlines in 2002, in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots when he was chief minister.

A month after the Gujarat riots, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked then-chief minister Narendra Modi to follow rajdharma, an advice that briefly wiped the smile off Modi’s face, at a news conference on April 4, 2002, in Ahmedabad.

A reporter had asked Vajpayee: “We heard your message for the officials. Do you also have a message for the chief minister during your visit?”

With a smiling Modi seated next to him, Vajpayee replied: “For the chief minister, I have only one message, that he should follow rajdharma. Rajdharma, the word is quite meaningful (sarthak). That is what I am following, trying to follow. For a ruler, there can be no differentiation among the subjects. Not on the basis of birth, not caste, not religion.”

His smile fading, Modi turned to Vajpayee and muttered: “That is what we are following, Sahab.”

Vajpayee said: “I have faith that Narendrabhai is doing just that.”

Modi was smiling again.

In his post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday in which he mentioned the word rajdharma, Congress president Kharge alleged: "The BJP is the matchstick which burnt Manipur!"

He shared a screengrab of a news report about the latest violence.

"Narendra Modi ji, your last visit to Manipur was for seeking votes for the BJP, way back in January 2022. Violence erupted in the state on May 3, 2023," Kharge wrote.

"More than 600 days have passed, and media reports through satellite images have now revealed that villages after villages have been wiped off in the state," he added.

Kharge pointed out fresh violence was witnessed on Friday night when a mob attacked the Kangpokpi district superintendent of police, resulting in injuries.

"Your incompetent and shameless chief minister has expressed regret but has conveniently brazened out your absence in the state," Kharge alleged.

"We are repeating with utmost responsibility that the BJP has some vested interest to keep the beautiful border state on the boil, with more than 250 innocent deaths and 60,000 being displaced. People are still living in camps for 20 months.”

Even the Supreme Court has said it was the primary responsibility of the Union and the state governments to ensure peace and normalcy, the Congress president noted.

"On December 6, INDIA (bloc) parties in Manipur had made three specific and simple requests to you. Visit Manipur before 2024 ends, but you did NOT. Call representatives of all political parties at your office in Delhi, but you HAVEN'T. Involve yourself directly in Manipur, but it DOES NOT seem that you have," he said.

"Even if you do either of the above, you cannot escape the constitutional culpability of not following rajdharma," Kharge added.

(With inputs from PTI)