Biren Singh Resigns As Manipur Chief Minister

Nearly two years after ethnic violence broke out, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday tendered his resignation.

Biren Singh Resigns

Singh has handed over the letter of resignation from the post of Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal. "It has been an honour to serve the people of Manipur so far," the outgoing CM =said in his resignation letter.

He met the Governor along with 19 MLAs and BJP's North East Manipur in-charge Sambit Patra. "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," Singh stated in his resignation letter.

Why Did He Resign?

However, the governor accepted Singh's resignation, along with that of his council of ministers, and requested that he continue in office until alternative arrangements are made.

As per a report in News18, he decided to step down over the threat of a no-confidence motion pushed by Congress.

The Congress was confident of getting support from some BJP MLAs who were upset with Singh's leadership.

He submitted his resignation following his meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and JP Nadda.

On Saturday, Singh had said that the BJP government has been making all efforts to restore peace in the trouble-hit state.

"The state government has been making all possible efforts to restore peace and to ensure that people live together peacefully as before," Singh added.

The ethnic violence that broke out in 2024 had killed over 250 people in the state.

His resignation comes as unidentified gunmen looted arms from India Reserve Battalion outpost in Manipur's Thoubal district.

Reactions

On Manipur CM N Biren Singh's resignation, Congress leader Udit Raj says "...When the Congress party was demanding him to be removed at the right time then he was not removed...A rift has been created between the two communities forever. This govt should not be there for such a long time. Removing the CM after everything was ruined does not make any sense...."

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge blamed Modi as the real culprit of "disdain and apathy" towards the strife-torn state. "It is painful to say that for 21 months, the BJP ignited a fire in Manipur and left the people across communities to fend for themselves," Kharge said in a post on X. "Their rank incompetence and utter disregard for Rajdharma resulted in at least 258 people having died, more than 5,600 arms and 6.5 lakh rounds of ammunition were looted from police armouries, more than 60,000 people displaced and thousands still forced to live in relief camps," he said.

Assembly secretary K. Meghajit Singh issued a notice stating: "In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India, I, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Governor of Manipur, hereby order that the previous directive to summon the 7th session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly, which has yet to commence, is hereby declared null and void with immediate effect."

With inputs from PTI