When Rain, Roads, and Resilience Connect Leaders across Time: On Narendra Modi’s Visit to Manipur

There was heavy rain today (Saturday), and I wondered how Prime Minister Narendra Modi would manage to travel to Churachandpur, address the gathering there, and meet the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). He also had to return to Imphal to speak at another gathering at Kangla. When he was about to arrive at Imphal airport from Mizoram’s Lengpui airport, there was a downpour. Because of the bad weather, he could not visit Aizawl and instead addressed the people virtually from the airport, apologising for not being able to be there in person.

Yet, to the surprise of many in Manipur, braving the heavy rain, he chose to travel by road to Churachandpur. This reminds me of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to Nagaland on 27 October 2003. Vajpayee landed at Dimapur airport and was to be flown by chopper to Kohima, where some of us journalists were waiting at the Assam Rifles helipad. The weather turned bad, and security personnel later informed us that the Prime Minister would not be able to come by helicopter due to the conditions.

The next day, 28 October 2003, while addressing a massive gathering at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Kohima, Vajpayee narrated his experience: “I had a first-hand experience yesterday. Mother Nature wanted me to take the road journey from Dimapur to Kohima. I was told that of all the roads in the State, this is the best. If this is the best, it is difficult to imagine how bad the worst is.”

Amid laughter, he went on to announce: “I am therefore pleased to announce that the Border Roads Organisation will immediately undertake significant improvements of the Dimapur–Kohima Road as part of making it a four-lane highway.” Out of the INR 1,050 crore economic package he announced for Nagaland, INR 400 crore was allocated for this highway. Sadly, the project only began 12 years later, in 2015, when Union Minister of National Highways Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone — an event I attended as well.

In other words, Dear Prime Minister Modi, it was you, after becoming Prime Minister in 2014, who finally fulfilled Vajpayee’s promise.

Today, in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, you laid the foundation stone for multiple development projects worth INR 7,300 crore. At Imphal, you also inaugurated projects worth over INR 1,200 crore. You noted that as a border state, Manipur has long struggled with poor connectivity. Since 2014, the Centre has worked on two fronts: sharply increasing budgets for rail and road infrastructure, and extending roads from cities to villages. So far, INR 3,700 crore has been spent on National Highways, with new projects worth INR 8,700 crore underway. Roads now reach hundreds of villages, bringing particular benefits to hill areas and tribal communities.

I hope these projects are completed in a time-bound manner. One thing is certain: the road from Imphal to Churachandpur today is far better than what Vajpayee had to endure from Dimapur to Kohima 22 years ago.

I am happy to say I had the privilege of meeting Vajpayee twice when he was Prime Minister.

But sadly, Prime Minister Modi, you visited Manipur only after two years and four months of ethnic violence that broke out in May 2023. Even today, there is no free movement on the National Highways. Many had hoped that before your arrival, free movement would be restored — but it wasn’t.

You met with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Churachandpur and at Imphal. To truly restore free movement in the state, you must begin by ensuring they can safely return to their homes.

Oken Jeet Sandham