Manipur Election 2017: Rahul Gandhi attacks Modi in Imphal rally, asks him to reveal contents of Naga Accord

Imphal: On Tuesday, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi while campaigning in Manipur, demanded that the contents of the Naga Accord, signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, should be made public and accused him of “spreading hate and lies” wherever he went.

Terming it a ‘pre-paid’ accord, Rahul said,“the Centre has signed the Naga Peace Accord, but nobody knows about its contents. Even Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and the state government are not aware of it. Why are the people of Manipur being kept in the dark about the contents of the agreement?” he asked while addressing an election rally in Imphal.

“Wherever Narendra Modi goes, he spreads lies, hatred and enmity among brothers. He makes false promises. He had leveled baseless allegations of corruption against the Ibobi government. He always makes false claims,” Rahul said.

Rahul said only a Congress government can lead Manipur towards the path of development and prosperity.

Referring to the Centre’s decision to scrap high-value currency notes, he said, “Demonetisation has had an adverse impact on the livelihood of the poor of this country. Farmers, daily wage labourers were the ones most affected due to it.”

Rahul’s comment comes after Modi had accused the Congress government in Manipur of spreading false propaganda on the Naga Accord and said there was nothing in it that was detrimental to the interests of the state. “I assure you that there is no single reference of ditching Manipuri people or their interests in the Naga Accord,” he said. “The Ibobi government was carrying on “false campaign and misleading the people regarding the Naga Accord,” he had alleged.

“The Naga Accord was signed one-and-half years ago. What were you doing? Were you in a deep sleep? All of a sudden you have woken up before elections. You are making false claims to mislead the people,” the prime minister said. The Congress government in the state has alleged that the details of the agreement have been kept “secret” as it “compromises the territorial integrity of Manipur.”

The Naga Peace Accord, termed a ‘framework agreement’, was signed between National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) and the Centre in August 2015. The signing of the agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations that spanned 18 years with the first breakthrough in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed.

Echoing Rahul, Ibobi too questioned as to why Modi failed to divulge the details of the framework agreement if it contained no points to harm Manipur integrity.

Ibobi noted that no one has any idea about the contents of the Framework Agreement signed on 3 August, 2015.