Amid growing dissension within the BJP over his handling of the state’s ongoing ethnic violence, N Biren Singh resigned as Manipur’s chief minister on Sunday. Following a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, the BJP leader resigned from his position as leader. Why did Biren Singh decide to resign at this time, over two years after the Meitei-Kuki ethnic warfare that has already taken over 220 lives?
The Manipur Congress declared on February 7 that on February 10 it would introduce a resolution of no-confidence against the Biren Singh administration. A well-known opponent of Biren Singh, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, arrived in New Delhi on February 3 as the Minister of Manipur Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. He reportedly told the BJP leadership that if the Chief Minister was not replaced, the government would probably fall apart. On February 4, Governor AK Bhalla met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to update him on the situation.
Another critic of the Chief Minister, Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, reportedly told BJP President JP Nadda about the no-confidence vote when he visited New Delhi and spoke with Nadda. A source claims that the Speaker stated he would not be able to block the motion’s introduction when asked if it could be avoided.
The Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory is investigating the “leaked audio tapes” that, according to a Kuki body, prove Biren Singh’s involvement in escalating ethnic tension in the state. On February 3, the Supreme Court requested a sealed-cover report from the laboratory. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented Manipur, was instructed by a bench made up of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar to present the report to the court on March 24, the next hearing date.
Biren Singh met with the members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the Janata Dal (United) and the Naga People’s Front, on February 8. Only 20 of the alliance’s 46 MLAs attended the meeting.
Talking to the media, one of the dissident BJP MLAs from the valley said, “For the last two years, neither the state leadership nor the Centre has come up with a roadmap for peace and they are just diverting attention by saying that ‘we will seal the border’, ‘we will implement the NRC’ or ‘launch a war on drugs’. But the main issue is the restoration of peace and normalcy. We are saying that if there is no change in this before the Assembly session begins, something big and unprecedented will happen during the session.” Another BJP MLA said, “More than two-thirds of the BJP MLAs are not happy with the current leadership. So everyone is going to make some move in the interest of the public and the state. The turmoil is intolerable. We cannot wait anymore”.
In July 2024, the chief minister of Manipur informed the Legislative Assembly that, as a result of the violence that has been occurring in the state since May 2023, 226 persons have been reported dead, 39 are missing, and 59, 414 are in relief camps (till July 30).
11,892 cases have been filed in various police stations in relation to the violence, and up to 11,133 homes have been set on fire. According to the chief minister, the state government has set up 302 relief camps to house the displaced people in response to the situation. 5,554 farmers’ farmlands were impacted, endangering their means of subsistence.
