N Biren Singh steps down as Chief Minister of strife-torn Manipur

Resignation comes ahead of Congress' planned no-confidence motion

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh submitted his resignation to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla in Imphal on Sunday evening. His decision came on the eve of the state legislature’s Budget session, set to begin on Monday, where the Congress was due to move a no-confidence motion against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government.

  Several BJP legislators, frustrated with Singh’s inability to quell ethnic violence in the state, had recently renewed calls for his removal by the party’s central leadership.  Singh’s resignation comes 21 months after ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023. At least 250 people have been killed in clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities, and thousands have been displaced.

 

  Singh had returned to Imphal earlier in the day from New Delhi, his second visit to the capital within a week. During his trip, he held a two-hour meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda. 

  Last Monday, the Supreme Court directed the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) to submit, in a sealed cover, its forensic report on the authenticity of leaked audio clips allegedly implicating Singh in the ethnic violence. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar instructed the CFSL to provide its findings within six weeks, scheduling the next hearing on the petition by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) for March 24. KOHUR, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, has called for a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into Singh’s alleged role in the violence. “The state is gradually limping back to normalcy and we will keep it (the matter) on hold at the moment,” the CJI said.

  Bhushan claimed that in the leaked audio clips, the chief minister was purportedly heard saying that Meitei groups had been allowed to loot state-owned arms and ammunition.    

  “A truth lab confirmed with 93 per cent certainty that it is the chief minister’s voice,” Bhushan stated. When asked about the clips in a recent interview with a news agency, Singh dismissed the allegations. “Some people are after me... there is a conspiracy. The matter is subjudice. I won't talk much about it. An FIR has been filed.” 

  On Sunday evening, Singh was accompanied by 14 legislators from the BJP and Naga People’s Front (NPF) as he submitted his resignation at Raj Bhavan. In his letter to the governor, he urged the Centre “to maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur, which has a rich and diverse civilisational history spanning thousands of years.” 

  He also called on the central government to continue its “crackdown on border infiltration and to formulate a policy for the deportation of illegal immigrants and the fight against drugs and narco-terrorism.” Singh further requested that the Centre continue implementing the revised Free Movement Regime (FMR) with stringent biometric verification, ensuring a more secure and efficient border system. 

  On Saturday, Singh had convened a meeting with BJP-led ruling alliance MLAs at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. 

  In New Delhi, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party had been preparing to move a no-confidence motion against Singh and his Cabinet in the Manipur Assembly on Monday. “Sensing the climate, the Manipur CM resigned. This has been a demand of the Congress since early May 2023, when Manipur erupted,” Ramesh said. He described Singh’s resignation as long overdue, adding that the people of Manipur now await a visit from PM Narendra Modi.  

Congress leaders argued that Singh stepped down because he was running a minority government and had lost the support of his own party’s MLAs. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said Singh's resignation reflected “mounting public pressure, the Supreme Court investigation, and the no-confidence motion by the Congress, which have forced a reckoning.”

  Singh resigned just a month before completing eight years in office, making him Manipur’s second-longest-serving CM after Con­g­ress leader Okram Ibobi Singh, who held the post for 15 years.