Invitation accepted, PM here for a few hours : Art of covering up the warts
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 04, 2014 -

A few hours. This should sum up the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Manipur on November 30.

More than clear that it was just too short a time for the Prime Minister to have experienced the real Manipur or Imphal to be more precise.

With the State Government more than happy that Mr Modi was here to grace the closing function of the Sangai Festival, not much can be read into the highly publicised visit.

A sort of a triumph for the State Government but nothing much for the people.

Sure the State Government must have had a busy day on November 30, for playing host to someone like the Prime Minister of the country is not something which happens every day or often.

To the credit of the Prime Minister, the visit was well timed and he did manage to send out the message that he was here to get to know the North East better.

A look at his itinerary should be indicative of this.

On November 30 the Prime Minister was at Guwahati to attend the National Conference of DGPs and IGPs.

The next stop on the same day was Imphal where he attended the closing function of the Sangai Festival.

The same day he left for Nagaland and attended the opening ceremony of the Hornbill Festival on December 1.

From there he went to Agartala to inaugurate a power project.

In short the Prime Minister visited Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura in the span of 48 hours.

An energy perfectly complementing Delhi’s new found interest in the North East, if one may add.

It is however doubtful if the Government of Manipur truly and genuinely reciprocated this interest.

True the Prime Minister was here for only a short while and hence it would not have been possible to really present the real Manipur or Imphal.

Invitation accepted, the Prime Minister here to grace the closing function of the Sangai Festival.

A point which will be glossed over and over again as some sort of an achievement for the State Government.

However the point that the Prime Minister did not get to see or experience the real Manipur or Imphal will not blow over the heads of Delhi and the people here.

The roads were laid out for the high profile visit. Cops were out in full strength to ensure that there was nothing untoward during the visit.

Everything went off well in that there was no report of any unwanted incidents unfolding on the day of the visit. However there is nothing to show that anything has improved in Imphal.

In sharp contrast to the road which was laid out for the Prime Minister’s visit, motoring on any road in Imphal can be a nightmarish experience.

A walk or a ride down Nagamapal road or the road just in front of Shankar Talkies in Lamphel should be more than enough to illustrate the point that is sought to be conveyed here.

Garbage continue to pile up all over the place. With nothing to suggest that Sanjenthong is anywhere near completion, traffic jam is a nightmare on all the major roads of Imphal.

The VIP culture on the roads and uniformed personnel behaving as if the roads are their personal fiefdoms have only made things worse for the common people.

The Prime Minister did not see this but was here. Should say something significant.