N Biren Singh’s embattled tenure as Manipur’s chief minister got here to an finish on Sunday, February 9, 2025, as he resigned amid escalating inner occasion discord and the looming risk of a no-confidence movement. The resignation, submitted to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on the Raj Bhavan in Imphal at roughly 5:30 PM, got here hours after essential conferences with Union Dwelling Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, marking a essential juncture within the state’s extended ethnic disaster that has claimed over 250 lives since Might 2023.
The Governor has accepted his resignation while requesting him to proceed as caretaker Chief Minister till various preparations are made. His resignation comes amidst mounting stress from inside the Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) state unit and forward of a deliberate no-confidence movement that the opposition Congress had introduced it might transfer within the meeting on Monday. The scheduled funds session has since been declared “null and void” by the Governor.
In his resignation letter, Singh expressed gratitude to the central authorities, stating, “It has been an honour to serve the folks of Manipur so far. I’m extraordinarily grateful to the central authorities for well timed actions, interventions, developmental work and implementation of varied tasks for safeguarding the pursuits of each single Manipuri.”
Talking to Christian At the moment veteran human rights activist and editor John Dayal mentioned, “Singh’s resignation comes after Manipur has burned for over 21 months, however his parting letter to the Governor is telling. It reveals his continued indifference in direction of the tribal communities, predominantly Christians. He doesn’t even acknowledge the violence, or his failure to deliver it to a halt, and has no sense of grief. He reveals no indicators of getting a conscience.”
The event carries specific significance because it comes 5 days after the Supreme Courtroom directed a central forensics laboratory to look at leaked audio tapes that allegedly function Singh saying the ethnic violence was instigated at his insistence. The courtroom has scheduled the following listening to for March 25.
Regardless of BJP state president A Sharda Devi’s assertions that there have been “no variations among the many BJP legislators,” occasion insiders reveal that Singh’s place had change into more and more untenable. Sources point out that a number of BJP MLAs had threatened to assist the opposition’s no-confidence movement if Singh remained on the helm.
The political arithmetic within the 59-member meeting (one seat is vacant following an NPP MLA’s dying) had grown precarious for Singh. The BJP holds 32 seats, with assist from numerous regional events together with the NPP (6 seats), NPF (5 seats), KPA (2 seats), JD(U) (6 seats), whereas the Congress has 5 seats and there are 3 independents. Notably, all seven BJP Kuki MLAs, two KPA members, and one impartial had withdrawn assist for Singh’s management.
The resignation has drawn blended reactions from Manipur’s ethnic communities. Meitei teams take into account the timing unlucky, with Jeetendra Ningomba, former coordinator of Cocomi, expressing concern that “the transfer will strengthen Kuki separatist forces.” In the meantime, Kuki teams, whereas welcoming the event, preserve that their demand for separate administration stays unchanged. ITLF spokesperson Ginza Vualzong said, “We consider he knew he can be voted out within the no-confidence voting within the Manipur meeting, and to save lots of his face, he will need to have submitted his resignation.”
The Congress has criticised the BJP for what it phrases a “belated” choice. AICC normal secretary Jairam Ramesh identified that this was a requirement his occasion had been making since early Might 2023, including that “folks of Manipur now await a go to by our frequent-flier Prime Minister who’s off to France and the U.S. now – and who has discovered neither the time nor the inclination to go to Manipur these previous 20 months.” Congress chief Rahul Gandhi accused Singh of getting “instigated division in Manipur” over two years.
The central authorities now faces the difficult job of choosing Singh’s successor whereas addressing the deep-rooted ethnic divisions within the state. The battle has successfully separated the Meitei-majority Imphal valley from the Kuki-dominated hills, with each communities largely confined to their respective territories.
Singh’s exit comes after 21 months of ethnic-religious strife that has not solely claimed tons of of lives but in addition displaced over 60,000 folks. The disaster has considerably impacted the state’s improvement and administrative functioning, with former MP and NPF chief Lorho S Pfoze noting that Manipur wants “a simpler administration and a renewed concentrate on improvement.”
Singh’s resignation attracts the curtain on a political profession that noticed him rise from a Border Safety Pressure footballer to Manipur’s prime workplace. After 13 years with the Congress, he joined the BJP in 2016 and have become chief minister following the occasion’s victory within the 2017 meeting polls. He now exits workplace forsaking a state deeply scarred by ethnic violence and going through one in every of its gravest crises since statehood.
