Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived at the Kumbhigram airport in Silchar in Assam’s Cachar district on Monday to meet the flood victims ahead of his visit to strife-torn Manipur.
Upon landing in Assam, Gandhi visited the relief camp at Thalai in Youth Care Center, Fulertal.
“From the airport, he will be going to a flood relief camp in Lakhipur and interact with the people who have taken shelter there,” a state Congress spokesperson had said earlier, PTI reported.
The camp is on the route that Gandhi will take to the Jiribam district of Manipur.
About 22.70 lakh people in 28 districts of Assam were affected by the floods. A total of 78 people have been killed in this year’s floods, landslides and storms in the state so far.
Rahul Gandhi will return to Silchar airport from Jiribam, and fly to Imphal for the next leg of his Manipur tour.
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This will be the Congress leader’s first visit to the northeastern region after becoming the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha. He had earlier visited Manipur from where he commenced his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra earlier this year, which culminated in Mumbai.
‘Indulging in sick tragedy tourism’
The Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at Rahul Gandhi over his decision to visit Manipur.
BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya took to X and said, “The ethnic conflict in Manipur is a legacy of the Congress party. The State has witnessed killing of civilians, police and Army personnel for decades, while Congress was in power.
In 1990, 300 people were killed.
1100 people died in 1993
400 were killed in 1997
In 2001, 95 people died
140 people were killed in 2003
In 2006, 105 people died
200 people were killed in 2008
In 2010, 220 people died and
165 people died in 2012.”
Calling his a “Balak Buddhi”, a term used by PM Modi during his address in te recently held Parliament Session, Malviya said, “Forget Third Time Fail Rahul Gandhi, did any Congress leader, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was a member of Rajya Sabha from Assam, visit the strife-torn region. Balak Buddhi is simply indulging in sick tragedy tourism.”
(With inputs from PTI)