Imphal/Guwahati
Twenty-two months after ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kukis erupted and continues unabated, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned on Sunday, hours after leading a bunch of MLAs to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.
IMMEDIATE TRIGGER
The trigger for the resignation is said to be the Congress’ plan to move a no-confidence motion against him on Monday, when the Assembly Session is scheduled to commence.
Claiming this, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted on X: “The Congress was all set to move a no-confidence motion against the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers in the Manipur Assembly tomorrow. Sensing the climate, the Manipur CM has just resigned. This was a demand that the Congress has been making since early May 2023, when Manipur erupted.
“The CM’s resignation was belated. The people of Manipur now await a visit by our Frequent Flier PM who is off to France and the USA now – and who has found neither the time nor the inclination to go to Manipur these past twenty months.”
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi also took to X to post: “For nearly two years, BJP’s CM Biren Singh instigated division in Manipur. PM Modi allowed him to continue despite the violence, loss of life, and destruction of the idea of India in Manipur. The resignation of CM Biren Singh shows that mounting public pressure, the SC investigation, and the no-confidence motion by the Congress have forced a reckoning
“But the most urgent priority is to restore peace in the state, and work to heal the wounds of the people of Manipur. PM Modi must visit Manipur at once, listen to the people and finally explain his plan to bring back normalcy.”
Former Manipur CM and senior Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh claimed that Biren Singh went around threatening his MLAs that if a no-confidence motion was brought against him they would be chased down by mobs.
PROLONGED DISSENT
A section of BJP MLAs had been pushing for the removal of Biren Singh holding him responsible for the failure in reining in the ethnic clashes that first erupted on May 3, 2023 and continues unabated to this day. In fact, even on his day of resignation, news poured in about armed men looting an Indian Reserve Battalion outpost at will. There have been calls for a leadership change from Opposition Congress too but the BJP high command continued to back Biren Singh.
The chances of a number of BJP MLAs, including its Kuki legislators, defying the party whip and voting in favour of the no-confidence motion against Biren Singh were not ruled out and thus, his resignation came in.
NUMBERSGAME
The BJP continues to enjoy majority in the 60-member Manipur Assembly despite the NPP’s 6 MLAs, KPA’s two legislators withdrawing their support. Of late, the JD (U) also announced withdrawal of support but its lone legislator did not follow its diktat. Still, the BJP enjoys the support of its 37 MLAs besides five of Naga People’s Front. The Opposition has support of 16 MLAs including NPP’s 6, Congress’ 5, KPA’s 2 MLAs and three independents.
SUPREME COURT ORDER
The recent Supreme Court order where the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) has been directed to submit a report on the veracity of the “leaked audio tapes” where Biren Singh is purportedly boasting about his role in the Manipur violence is said to have further cornered the Meitei strongman and forced him to resign. Non-profit private forensic laboratory Truth Labs has confirmed that 93 per cent of the audio tapes matched Biren Singh’s voice. The Supreme Court has sought the report in a sealed cover given the sensitivity of the matter.
RESIGNATION LETTER
Biren Singh met Manipur Governor Ak Bhalla along with state BJP president A Sharda, BJP’s North East Manipur in-charge Sambit Patra and around 19 MLAs to tender his resignation which reads as below:
“I Nongthombam Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur, am submitting my resignation herewith. It has been an honour to serve the people of Manipur thus far. I am extremely grateful to the Central government for timely actions, interventions, developmental work and implementation of various projects for safeguarding the interest of every single Manipuri. My sincere request to the Central government through your good office is to continue with the same,” the resignation letter reads adding, “I take the opportunity to enumerate the most important ones of them”.
i)To maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur which has a rich and diverse civilizational history over thousands of years.
ii)To crack down on border infiltration and to formulate policy for the deportation of the illegal immigrants.
iii)To continue the fight against drugs and narco terrorism.
iv)To continue the stringent and fool-proof revised mechanism of FMR with the biometric being stringently applied.
v)Time bound and faster border which is underway.
The resignation comes just a day after he asserted that his government had been making all efforts to restore peace in the strife-torn state. More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May 2023.
WHAT NEXT?
Political corridors are abuzz about Biren Singh having requested Home Minister Amit Shah to impose President’s Rule for at least three months. Governor AK Bhalla is likely to fly to Delhi to meet Shah and President Droupadi Murmu to apprise them of the ground situation.
Manipur has a long history of imposition of President’s Rule. It has already seen it being imposed 10 times so far, only behind Jammu and Kashmir which has witnessed the highest 13 spells of President’s Rule. Uttar Pradesh too is another State with imposition of President’s Rule there on 10 different occasions.
At the same time, the buzz also has it that a new Chief Minister could be in place in the event of non-imposition of President’s Rule.
The Kukis have been demanding a separate administration citing the impossibility of their co-existence with the Meiteis. Given such deepened faultlines and trust-deficit, for a new Chief Minister or the Centre in the event of a President’s Rule, the challenge to bring normalcy to the State will be a Herculean task.
