Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday used Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election slogan of “ek hai toh safe hai” against the BJP, accusing the Modi government of deliberately allowing the Manipur situation to fester to further the party’s divisive agenda.

The Congress party’s renewed attack on the Modi government for the situation in Manipur comes in the wake of another round of violence in the state that compelled the Centre to impose the stringent Armed Forces Special Powers Act (Afspa) in six police station jurisdictions last week.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi urged Modi to visit Manipur and “work towards restoring peace and healing in the region".

Kharge not only turned Modi’s latest slogan — coined during the ongoing Maharashtra poll campaign — against the BJP but also used another pet rhetoric of the ruling party — “double-engine" growth — to underscore how this too has failed in Manipur.

“Under your double-engine governments, na Manipur ek hai, na Manipur safe hai (Manipur is neither united nor safe)," Kharge posted on X, stressing that the state has been dealing with “unimaginable pain, division and simmering violence" since May 2023.

“We are saying it with utmost responsibility that it looks that the BJP deliberately wants Manipur to burn, for it serves its hateful divisive politics," Kharge said.

He also drew attention to the fact that at least 17 people had died since November 7 and tension was spreading to other regions of Manipur and the bordering states in the Northeast.

“You have failed Manipur — a beautiful border state. Even if you visit Manipur in future, people of the state will never forgive or forget that you left them to fend for themselves, and never set foot on their state to heal their miseries and find a solution," Kharge added.

The Prime Minister has not visited Manipur since the ethnic violence broke out in May last year. He did not visit the state even during the Lok Sabha campaign when he extensively travelled across the length and breadth of the country. It took him months to break his silence on the situation in the state and even when he spoke about Manipur, he did so fleetingly.

While the Centre has sent troops and widened the Afspa net in Manipur, the government has also been wary of speaking much on the situation. Last week, home ministry officials steered clear of Manipur while briefing MPs during a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs.