With no consensus on a successor for N Biren Singh, even three days after his resignation as Manipur’s chief minister, the state has been placed under President’s Rule.
Article 174(1) of the Constitution mandates that state Assemblies must be convened within six months of their last sitting. In Manipur, the last Assembly session was held on August 12, 2024, making Wednesday the deadline for its next sitting.
However, Governor Ajay Bhalla called off the Budget session, which was scheduled to begin on Monday, following the resignation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday.
Singh stepped down just a day before his government was set to face a no-confidence motion and a crucial floor test, effectively preempting a political showdown. His resignation came nearly two years after ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in May 2023 and amid mounting pressure from the opposition, which had been relentlessly demanding his removal.
Congress on Monday alleged that the resignation of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, ahead of the Congress’s planned no-confidence motion in the Assembly, was intended to save the BJP and not the people of Manipur, as nearly two months of ethnic violence continue.
While Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi termed the decision long overdue, Gaurav Gogoi, Congress’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, alleged that the BJP does not have a roadmap to restore peace in the northeastern state.
The Manipur Chief Minister’s resignation came days after the Supreme Court sought a sealed-cover forensic report on the authenticity of leaked audio clips alleging Singh’s role in the ethnic violence. The tapes reportedly included conversations in which Singh allegedly suggested that Meitei groups were allowed to loot arms and ammunition from the state government during the violence with Kukis
Rahul Gandhi cited the Supreme Court investigation as one of the reasons for Singh’s move, and said, “the resignation of CM Biren Singh shows that mounting public pressure, the SC investigation and the no-confidence motion by the Congress have forced a reckoning”.
