Wayanad (Kerala) | Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday said that she is "glad" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to visit Manipur two years after the widespread violence in that state, but he should have thought of it before.

Vadra also termed it "unfortunate" that the PM allegedly "allowed what is happening there to continue for so long and for so many people to get killed".

"I'm glad that he has decided after two years that it's worth him visiting. He should have visited much long before. It is very unfortunate that he has allowed what is happening there to happen for so long and for so many people to get killed, so many people to go through so much strife before he decided to visit," she said while speaking to reporters here.

The Congress MP from Wayanand said whenever there was pain and suffering, the prime ministers in India would visit such places and it has been followed traditionally.

"Right through, no matter which party, wherever there was pain and suffering, they would go. And that has been the tradition since independence. So, he is fulfilling it after two years. I think he should've thought of it before," Vadra, who has been in Wayanad since Thursday night, said.

Modi reached Imphal, the state capital of Manipur, on Saturday on his first visit to the state after ethnic violence broke out there in May 2023.

The PM's visit comes amid repeated criticism by opposition parties for not visiting Manipur following the ethnic strife between the Kuki and Meitei communities, which has left over 260 people dead and thousands homeless since May 2023.