A day after the resignation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the opposition Congress on Monday announced that they would oppose any move to promulgate President’s rule in Manipur.
Manipur Congress President Keisham Meghachandra Singh in a post on the X said: “For the people of Manipur, Congress party opposes any move to impose President’s Rule in Manipur now as well as the party also opposes any move to place Manipur Legislative Assembly under suspended animation now.”
Congress party wants a democratically elected popular government in Manipur in the larger interests of safeguarding democracy in the state, said Meghachandra Singh, who is also a member of the Manipur legislative Assembly.
Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Sunday night made the Assembly budget session ‘null and void’ hours after Biren Singh quit. The Budget session of the Manipur Assembly was scheduled to start on Monday (February 10) with the customary speech of the Governor and it would have continued till February 24.
On February 14, Chief Minister Biren Singh, who also holds the Finance portfolio, was scheduled to submit the Budget estimates for the financial year 2025-26.
An official of the Raj Bhavan said that after the formation of the new government, the Governor would summon the Budget session afresh. According to a Raj Bhavan official, the Governor on Sunday accepted the resignation letter of Biren Singh and requested him to continue as the caretaker Chief Minister until alternative arrangements are made.
Meghachandra Singh earlier 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”. He had said that the no-confidence motion was to be the first such move against the BJP government after the ethnic violence began in Manipur on May 3, 2023.
The NPP, led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, had on November 17 last year withdrawn support to the BJP-led government in Manipur, claiming that the Biren Singh-led government “completely failed to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy” in the violence-ravaged state.
The NPP, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA, had seven MLAs in the Assembly. The withdrawal by the NPP, however, did not have any impact on the Biren Singh-led government as the BJP has 37 MLAs and is also supported by five MLAs of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) and three Independents.
NPP MLA N. Kayisii, also the party’s Manipur unit President, died on January 18 after a prolonged illness, leaving six party legislators in the House at present.
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