Speaking to reporters, the AICC in-charge of Manipur, Girish Chodankar, said that the party leaders met the state chief secretary, Vineet Joshi, during the day and were assured that they would be informed about the granting of the permission on Monday evening itself.
"We applied to the Manipur government on January 2 itself for the ground permission for the launching of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra at Hapta Kangjeibung in Imphal East district on January 14, but it has not yet been approved so far. The AICC team met the chief secretary today to seek the ground permission for this rally at the earliest. We have apprised him that the rally will be peaceful," Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Keisham Meghachandra said as quoted by news agency PTI.
"We met the chief secretary with no intention to politicise the issue. Even if the permission is not granted, we would like a word on it," he said.
Chodankar also claimed that they are trying to help the government showcase that Manipur is returning to normalcy. He also added that they are very hopeful that there will be no politics over this yatra.
"The Manipur chief minister should understand the importance of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and think about Manipur first and not BJP politics," he added.
Meghachandra said that several leaders of the party, including chief ministers and MPs from across the country, will gather in Manipur for a peaceful rally on January 14. "The Yatra will be a huge national programme and a big message will be delivered from it," he added.
Congress' Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi, will be launched from Imphal on January 14 and culminate on March 20 in Mumbai. It is being held as the Lok Sabha elections is likely to be held in the next few months.
"He(Joshi) said the matter is with the chief minister .... We have to do all the preparations as the party leaders will be coming from across the country for the Yatra," Chodankar said.
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