Rahul Gandhi likely to visit Manipur on Nov 26 to meet displaced families

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Manipur on November 26 to meet families displaced by the ethnic conflict and those who lost relatives in the violence, India Today reported on Monday, citing sources.

The visit has not yet been officially announced by the Congress. NEInsider will update this story once the party confirms the schedule.

Imphal, then Churachandpur

According to the report, the trip will last a single day. Gandhi is expected to begin in Imphal and then travel to Churachandpur to meet people affected by the conflict.

He is also expected to hold a meeting with local Congress leaders to take stock of the party's position ahead of the Manipur Assembly elections, which are expected early next year.

More than three years of displacement

The visit would come as thousands of families remain in relief camps more than three years after violence broke out between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities on May 3, 2023. The clashes began after a Tribal Solidarity March held to oppose the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Figures placed before the state Assembly in September put the toll at 306 people killed and 49 still missing as of August 31, 2026. Government data released in April showed more than 58,000 people displaced, close to 7,900 houses destroyed and over 2,600 partly damaged.

Third visit since the conflict began

This would be Gandhi's third trip to the state since the conflict started. He first went in June 2023, when police briefly halted his road convoy, and met displaced families and civil society groups. In July 2024, on his first visit as Leader of Opposition, he went to relief camps in Jiribam, Churachandpur and Moirang.

The proposed visit also comes amid a political row over Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam (Inner Manipur). BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, have demanded his resignation over sexual harassment allegations against him. The Delhi High Court on November 2 stayed his dismissal from Jawaharlal Nehru University. The allegations have not been proven in court.