Facing heat over ‘role’ in ethnic clashes, Manipur CM Biren quits

A day before he was to face a no-confidence motion in the Assembly, embattled Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned from his post on Sunday evening.

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Biren submitted his resignation to Governor AK Bhalla in Imphal in the presence of BJP’s state in-charge Sambit Patra. The Governor accepted Biren’s resignation, along with that of his council of ministers, and requested that he continue in office until alternative arrangements were made.

Strife-torn state awaits visit by PM: Congress

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the CM’s resignation had come too late. “The people of Manipur now await a visit by our PM, who hasn’t found time to visit the state these past 20 months.”

Prez rule likely if no consensus on CM

• BJP MLAs reportedly held parleys with state in-charge Sambit Patra to choose the next CM
• Among the probables for the top post are Speaker T Satya-brata and Y Khemchand
• Both leaders had separately visited Delhi recently and met Home Minister Amit Shah
• If options for a new CM fail, the state could be put under President’s rule, say sources

Guv to visit Delhi today

Manipur Governor AK Bhalla is likely to reach Delhi on Monday amid speculations that the Assembly could be dissolved

Within hours of the resignation, the Governor also revoked his earlier order summoning the Budget session of the Assembly from February 10. Analysts saw this as an indication of a possible dissolution of the Assembly. The opposition Congress had planned to bring a no-confidence motion against the CM tomorrow. Biren’s resignation followed a meeting he had earlier in the day with Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. After landing in Imphal, he straightaway headed to Raj Bhawan.

There had been speculation about the resignation for months as the rift among the BJP MLAs, including those belonging to the Kuki community, was out in the open. Another significant trigger could be the Supreme Court last week seeking a sealed-cover report from the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory on “leaked audio tapes” that, according to a Kuki body, allegedly established Biren’s role in fuelling ethnic conflict in the state.

The tapes reportedly included conversations where Biren allegedly suggested that Meitei groups were allowed to loot arms and ammunition from the state government during the unrest, which has left more than 250 dead while over 50,000 have been displaced since May 2023.

A Bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar on February 3 directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for Manipur, that the report be produced before it on the next date of hearing on March 24.

The petitioner, Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust, has sought an independent investigation based on the tapes into Biren’s alleged role in the violence. The Manipur Government has termed the clips “fake” and said these were “released on social media in an attempt to derail peace initiatives”.

Biren’s resignation was being sought for months by several of his own party MLAs over his “inept” handling of the violence, which has caused a serious divide between the once-united tribal Kukis and majority Meiteis.

In his resignation letter, Biren said he was grateful to the Centre for “timely actions, interventions, developmental work and implementation of various projects for safeguarding the interest of every single Manipuri”. He requested the Centre to “maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur, which had a rich and diverse civilisational history over thousands of years; to crack down on border infiltration and to formulate a policy for the deportation of illegal immigrants”.

Biren had arrived in Delhi last evening, in what was his second visit to the national capital in less than a week.