He said BJP favours building a specialized highway force which will ensure the safety of goods vehicles on the two highways -- NH2 and NH37 - which are the lifelines of the landlocked state.
The indefinite economic blockade by United Naga Council (UNC) in Manipur is on since November 1, 2016 in protest against the state government's decision to carve out seven new districts by bifurcating the existing ones. Supply of essential commodities, including fuel to Manipur, has been severely hit since the imposition of the blockade on the two highways.
The state government has maintained that the decision to carve out new districts was taken to improve administrative efficiency.
"The economic blockade has divided the state and is widening the gap between the people of the hills and valley. Congress and the Chief Minister have deliberately played this card by dividing the districts so that he can get the votes of the valley, which has a high population," Singh alleged in an interview to PTI yesterday.
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Polling for the 60-seat Manipur Assembly will be held in two phases on March 4 and March 8. Almost 65 per cent of Manipur's population live in Imphal Valley, which is dominated by non-tribal Meiteis.
Two tribal groups - Naga and Kuki-Zomi - account for the remaining 35 per cent of the population scattered across Manipur's hills that make up 90 per cent of the state's geographical area.
Singh also alleged that Congress is not interested in talks to resolve the deadlock and is pursuing "every trick" to derail the dialogue on ending economic blockade.
"If we come to power, we will open a dialogue process to solve this stalemate and ensure that the economic blockade is lifted. We feel that dialogue can solve the problem. In case of insurgency problem too, we are open to talks with the underground groups within the ambit of the Constitution.
with UNC in the economic blockade, Singh said, "This is an absolute baseless allegation. It is BJP which is fighting elections in the hills against all parties."
The rule of law has completely collapsed in Manipur, he claimed and added it was high time that Congress is thrown out of power democratically so that Manipur can be stopped from "disintegrating".
On the safety of goods vehicles entering and exiting Manipur through the two NHs in the state, he said, "We want to build a specialized highway force which will ensure the safety and security of the goods vehicles on the two highways."
"Under Narendra Modi"s leadership, you can"t indulge in corruption," he said.
If BJP is voted to power, investigations would be held in corruption charges against the Congress government, he said.
Asked why BJP did not declare its chief ministerial candidate in Manipur, Singh said, "We have not done so in other states going to the polls. This decision has to be taken by the party's central leadership. Maybe there are too many leaders and that is why the CM candidate was not declared."