Manipur CM's resignation 'belated', people now await visit by 'frequent-flier PM': Congress

The Congress on Sunday termed N Biren Singh's resignation from the post of Manipur chief minister as “belated” and said people of the state were now awaiting a visit by “our frequent-flier Prime Minister” Narendra Modi.

The opposition party's attack came shortly after Singh tendered his resignation to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal.

AICC general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the Congress was all set to move a no-confidence motion against Singh and his council of ministers in the Manipur Assembly on Monday.

“Sensing the climate, the Manipur chief minister has just resigned. This was a demand that the Congress has been making since early May 2023, when Manipur erupted,” he said in a post on X.

“The chief minister's resignation was belated. The people of Manipur now await a visit by our frequent-flier prime minister who is off to France and the US now -- and who has found neither the time nor the inclination to go to Manipur these past 20 months,” Ramesh said.

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the resignation of Biren Singh shows that “mounting public pressure, the SC investigation and the no-confidence motion by the Congress have forced a reckoning”.

Singh's resignation came hours after he returned from Delhi.

On Saturday, Singh convened a meeting with BJP-led ruling alliance MLAs at the Secretariat. The meeting was held in the wake of the opposition Congress seeking to move a no-confidence motion against the government.