Manipur CM Biren Singh quits after 21 months of crisis

Manipur CM Biren Singh quits after 21 months of crisis

Manipur CM Biren Singh quits after 21 months of crisis ByThomas Ngangom, Prawesh Lama, Imphal/new Delhi Feb 10, 2025 04:58 AM IST Share Via Copy Link N Biren Singh resigned as Manipur's chief minister amid BJP discord and impending no-confidence motion, following ethnic violence and Supreme Court scrutiny.

N Biren Singh resigned as Manipur’s chief minister on Sunday, hours after a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah that followed days of discord within the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) state unit and the threat of a no-confidence motion in the assembly, nearly 21 months after ethnic violence that has killed over 250 and displaced several thousands scorched the northeastern province.

Manipur CM Biren Singh hands over his resignation to governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday. (ANI)

Singh submitted his resignation to Manipur governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla in state capital Imphal around 5.30pm a day before the state assembly was scheduled to convene for the budget session, which was scrapped on Sunday evening.

“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 interests of every single Manipur,” Singh said in his resignation letter.

Also Read: Imphal Valley turns fortress amid sudden leadership crisis in Manipur

He was accompanied by the BJP’s northeast in-charge Sambit Patra, state president A Sharda and 19 MLAs. Patra will remain in Imphal, where he will help hone in on the party’s pick as Singh’s successor.

The resignation came five days after the Supreme Court directed a central forensics lab for a report on leaked audio tapes that allegedly feature Singh and where he is purportedly heard saying the ethnic violence in the state was instigated at his insistence.

Opposition parties accused the BJP of removing Singh from his position “belatedly” to keep its government from collapsing and for fear of recrimination from the Supreme Court.

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress’s Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said Singh “instigated division in Manipur” for two years.

“Prime Minister Modi allowed him to continue despite the violence, loss of life, and the destruction of the idea of India in Manipur,” he said on X.

Meitei groups said Singh’s resignation was poorly timed, even as Kuki groups said it was long overdue.

“I don’t think it was the right time for Singh to tender his resignation. The move will strengthen Kuki separatist forces in Manipur,” said Jeetendra Ningomba, former coordinator of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (Cocomi), a prominent Meitei organisation.

The umbrella Kuki group Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), which has demanded Singh’s resignation since the violence erupted, said their agitation would continue unless their demand for a separate administration is met.

ITLF spokesperson Ginza Vualzong said, “We believe he knew he would be voted out in the no-confidence voting in the Manipur assembly, and to save his face, he must have submitted his resignation.”

Sunday marked a nadir for the former footballer who played for the Border Security Force (BSF) team and clawed his way up the state’s political ladder, first as a member of the Congress for 13 years and then the BJP, which he joined in 2016. He was appointed Manipur chief minister after the assembly polls months later in 2017.

Calls for Singh’s dismissal have intensified nearly two years after clashes between the majority Meiteis and minority Kukis erupted through the state on May 3, 2023. The long running-ethnic hostilities have meant that the Meiteis, who live largely in the plains of Imphal valley, and the Kukis, who predominantly live in the hills, have withdrawn to their respective strongholds, with fortified buffer zones separating the two.

The 64-year-old’s resignation bookended several days of dissent from a rash of BJP legislators in the strife-torn state, even as senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh confirmed that the party’s MLAs would move a no-confidence motion against the BJP dispensation in the House on Monday. People aware of the development said some BJP legislators threatened to sit in the opposition during the no-confidence motion if the embattled Singh remained at the helm.

In his letter to Manipur governor Bhalla, who was appointed in December, Singh pointed out five “important” interventions the central government must continue in the state: “To maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur…; To crack down on border infiltration and formulate policy for the deportation of illegal migrants; To continue the fight against drugs and narco terrorism; To continue the stringent and foolproof revised mechanism of FMR with the biometric being stringently applied; Time bound and faster border which is underway”.

A statement from the Manipur Raj Bhavan secretariat confirmed the resignation.

“The Chief Minister, accompanied by some ministers, MLAs, and the BJP state president, called on the Governor this evening and submitted his resignation. The Governor has accepted the resignation of the Chief Minister along with the Council of Ministers and has asked him to continue in office until alternative arrangements are made,” it said.

Singh left for Delhi late on Saturday and met Union home minister Amit Shah in his residence.

He flew back to Imphal on a chartered flight, reached around 3pm on Sunday and drove straight to Raj Bhawan after meeting some of his colleague at his residence.

Shah summoned Singh on Saturday, days after he met a group of Manipur BJP MLAs, including state cabinet minister Y Khemchand on February. That meeting, in turn, came after Khemchand met with several other ministers and legislators of the state.

Singh also sought a meeting with Shah on February 5 after hurriedly flying to Delhi “on a commercial flight”. However, that meeting did not materialise and it was unclear if he had any other interactions with party leaders that day.

“Singh and some other leaders were due to fly to Prayagraj via Delhi at 8pm that evening (February 5). But he scrapped that plan and flew out on an IndiGo flight from Imphal to Delhi at 11am to hold meetings with BJP leaders,” said a BJP leader.

“We were told that he could not meet Shah and later, around midnight, went to Prayagraj in the chartered flight that had landed from Manipur by then,” said the leader.

The Meitei leader had little support to hang onto, said others.

“Had the CM not tendered his resignation, it would have been embarrassing for the party on Monday. Manipur’s Congress leaders had already announced they would demand a no-confidence motion. Around five to 10 BJP MLAs resolved to sit in the opposition and not support him. These MLAs include ministers too. The CM knew this and it was being communicated to the central leadership regularly, so he has resigned,” said a second Manipur BJP leader who asked not to be named.

The 60-member Manipur House currently has a strength of 59 after the death of a National People’s Party (NPP) MLA. Of these, the BJP holds 32 seats, NPP six, National People’s Front (NPF) has five, the Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) has two, the Janata Dal (United) has six, the Congress five and three are Independents.

“Even when he visited the governor, he had less than 20 MLAs,” said the Manipur BJP leader quoted above.

The BJP’s Kuki MLAs welcomed Singh’s exit. “Good riddance,” said Paolienlal Haokip, one of the BJP’s seven Kuki MLAs.

Following Singh’s resignation, governor Bhalla scrapped the budget session of the Manipur House, the assembly secretary said in a notification. Swelling demands for Singh’s dismissal have chipped away at his support since the violence began.

All seven of the BJP’s Kuki MLAs, two of the Kuki People’s Alliance and one Independent have since withdrawn support for Singh.BJP leaders said that several of the party’s MLAs have skipped Singh’s meetings and reached out to the central leadership in Delhi.

Singh’s muscular stance also alienated the BJP’s partners within its umbrella alliance in the northeast, the North-East Democratic Alliance.

In November, Conrad Sangma’s NPP withdrew support saying the BJP led state government had “completely failed to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy”.

In an interview with HT the same month, Mizoram chief minister Lalduhoma said Singh was a liability for the state, its people and the BJP, adding that even President’s Rule was preferable compared to his administration.

Still, Singh dug his heels in, till February’s internecine turmoil cast a shadow on the BJP-led Manipur government’s future as did his legal troubles.

The Supreme Court case revolves around audio recordings allegedly made by a whistleblower during a closed-door meeting with the Manipur CM. The petitioner claims that these tapes substantiate allegations of deliberate instigation of ethnic violence in the state.

The petitioner organisation has sought a court-monitored SIT probe into the tapes, claiming that they reveal evidence of the CM’s involvement in fuelling the ethnic clashes.

“I don’t know the veracity of the transcript also...When will the CFSL report come? Let it be examined. Let it not become another issue. File a report within one month,” ordered the apex court bench, scheduling the next hearing for March 25.

Opposition parties criticised Singh’s legacy. “It’s a belated decision, but a good step. Singh had failed on all fronts during his tenure and that had resulted in anarchy and a crisis of governance,” said K Meghachandra Singh, president of the Congress’s Manipur unit.