GUWAHATI: Manipur BJP president A Sharda Devi said Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned in the interest of the state and its people. Dismissing reports of discord among BJP legislators, she said Singh had submitted his resignation keeping in mind Manipur’s future.
“He resigned keeping in mind the interest of Manipur and its citizens. He made an appeal to the Government of India for the protection of Manipur’s integrity and the safety of the people,” Devi told journalists on Sunday evening.
“The state was witnessing development since 2017 and then, we faced the problems for two years. He was saddened by it. He wants a peaceful Manipur where everybody will coexist peacefully,” she further stated.
Singh (64) was first elected to the Assembly in 2002 as a Democratic Revolutionary People’s Party candidate. He joined the Congress in 2003, and the party appointed him as a minister. He continued serving as a minister until 2016 when he fell out with then Congress Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and joined the BJP.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won 21 seats compared to the Congress’s 28 in the 60-member House. Yet, it managed to cobble up the numbers and form a coalition government, with Singh donning the chief minister’s mantle.
His first term (2017-2022) was marked by differences within the NDA parties, which saw the National People’s Party withdrawing support. It returned to the government following Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention.
Singh successfully led the BJP in the 2022 elections, and the BJP reappointed him as the chief minister.
However, during this tenure, the ethnic conflict between Meiteis and Kukis claimed the lives of over 250 people, displaced around 60,000 others, and partitioned the state internally.
Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla accepted Singh’s resignation and asked him to continue in office until alternative arrangements are made.
The names of Assembly Speaker T Satyabrata Singh and senior minister Y Khemchand are doing the rounds as Singh’s possible successor. However, the BJP is known to spring a surprise when it comes to picking a chief minister.