Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh has officially submitted his resignation to the Governor of Manipur Ajay Kumar Bhalla. His resignation marks the end of his tenure at a critical point for Manipur, as the state is grappling ethnic violence. Though there have been multiple calls for his resignation in the past two years, ever since the ethnic strife began, the BJP high command had not given into these demands. The resignation comes a day before the state budget session where the opposition has called for a no confidence motion. Kuki groups had made it clear to the union government that no peace talks were possible with Biren Singh at the helm.
Biren Singh’s resignation also comes days after a forensic report was submitted in court that a voice which made provocative plans during the Manipur riots, matched Biren Siingh’s. With the Supreme Court asking the government for a report, the Manipur Chief Minister was going to be in troubled.
In his resignation letter tendered on Sunday, February 9, Biren Singh expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the people of the state and said that he was “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.”
He also listed five things as important ones to be taken care of by the Union government:
“To maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur which has a rich and diverse civilizational history over thousands of years; to crack down on border infiltration and to formulate policy for the deportation of the illegal immigrants; to continue the fight against drugs and narco terrorism; to continue the stringent and fool-proof revised mechanism of FMR with the biometric being stringently applied; time bound and faster border which is underway.”
The Congress was about to move a no-confidence motion against Biren during the budget session. Congress state President Keisham Meghachandra Singh said that the Congress, which has five MLAs in the 60-member house, would move a no-confidence motion against the BJP government "for its failure to deal with the ethnic violence in the state".
(With IANS inputs)
