Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on July 15 met party leaders from northeastern states, except Assam, to deliberate on the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Leaders from Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim were present at the meeting. Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal was also present in the meeting that was held at the AICC headquarters in the national capital. Post-meeting, Jairam Ramesh said that several issues will be raised in the monsoon session and Congress will remain firm on it. “There are several issues for us to raise in the coming monsoon session. The first one will be Manipur. We will not step back. This issue is very important. The discussion should be done in the presence of the prime minister and he should speak on this. Whatever has happened in Manipur. What is the Central Government and the state government doing? They should make people aware of their strategy for Manipur violence. Railways security is being compromised in the name of inauguration. Leaders are not allowed to speak,” said Jairam Ramesh. Manipur has been witnessing violent clashes, especially between the Kuki and the Meitei communities for close to two months. Opposition parties have accused the government of failing to contain the violence. Also, the Congress leader and the former Wayanad MP visited the state on June 29 and said, “Manipur needs peace to heal”. PM Modi arrived in France on Thursday. He attended the Bastille Day Parade as the ‘guest of honour’, on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the first Indian Prime Minister to have been conferred with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest civilian and military honour, by French President Emmanuel Macron.