'Resignation' That Never Was: What To Read In The Torn-Up Letter As Manipur CM Biren Singh Claims 'Solid Support'

On Friday, there was a sudden strong buzz that Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh is going to resign. This rumour got stronger after there was confirmation that he would meet Governor Anusuiya Uikey in the afternoon. Soon, a large number of Imas (Meitei women) gathered outside the residence, urging him not to resign. A torn-up resignation letter purported to have been written by Singh too surfaced in the media. This letter was torn up by a woman supporter. Later, the CM tweeted that he is not going to resign, and came out of his residence to greet his supporters.

Ever since ethnic violence broke out between Meiteis and Kukis, Biren Singh has been facing huge pressure from within and outside to resign from his post. In the recent all-party meeting, Opposition parties demanded that the Centre remove him first. The Kukis see him as an “oppressor”, while a section of BJP MLAs were also unhappy with his style of functioning even before the violence started. And his failure to control the law and order of the state has only diminished his image. Union minister RK Ranjan Singh’s recent comment that law and order in the state has collapsed only indicates that dissent within the ruling party against Biren Singh is expanding.

As this pressure builds, the action by the pro-Biren camp seems to be a staged one to show that the CM enjoys a "solid support" among the Meiteis. This is also a message from the pro-Biren camp to the central leadership of the party that removal of Biren should be kept out of options on the table. Though, the question remains — for how long will he be able to remain in the post, after miserably failing to restore normalcy in the state.

Why BJP Is Wrong To Oppose Rahul Gandhi Visit To Manipur

This week, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was on a two-day visit to the strife-torn northeastern state of Manipur. He visited various relief camps in Imphal, Churachandpur and Moirang, and also met various organisations. He also met Governor Anusuiya Uikey and later appealed to all sections of people of the state for peace.

However, the stand of the BJP to oppose Rahul’s visit didn’t bode well for democracy. Being an opposition leader, he has the right to visit the state to understand the ground reality. This criticism from the saffron party comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been maintaining a silence on the situation of the state, which wants and needs his intervention. The ethnic violence has already claimed more than 100 lives. This criticism against Rahul does no good for BJP, whose slogan of “double engine government” has been badly hit by this violence. 

An Autonomous Council For Eastern Nagaland Soon?

The BJP led Centre has proposed to create an autonomous council comprising six districts of the eastern Nagaland. The districts are Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator and Tuensang — and these districts are inhabited by seven Naga tribes. The proposal suggested creating a Frontier Nagaland Autonomous Council comprising 40 elected representatives, 7 nominated and 2 esteemed members. The body is likely to have legislative, executive, administrative and financial autonomy.

There have been allegations that this part of the state is neglected, giving rise to the demand of a separate state, Frontier Nagaland. The organisation spearheading the movement for the separate state is Eastern Naga People’s Organisation (ENPO), the apex body comprising the seven Naga tribes of eastern Nagaland. It has been raising the demand for a separate state since 2010.

In his visit to the Mon district this year ahead of the state assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said the Centre understands the problem of the people of eastern Nagaland, and assured them of a workable solution. There have been a series of talks between the ENPO and senior officers of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs — and the state government was also involved. The ENPO has welcomed the proposal.

This proposal of setting up an autonomous council by the Centre without the creation of a separate state is a welcome step, as the creation of a separate state has the potentiality to trigger other various statehood movements in the Northeast and the other parts of the country. Not only this, the proposal is in the interest of Nagland, which is still awaiting a permanent solution to the Naga issue. With the Centre agreeing to set up an autonomous council, it is likely to send a positive signal to the people of eastern Nagaland and also the state. Politically speaking, the BJP, which is an ally of the Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP government, is likely to utilise this to expand in the eastern region, which has 20 MLAs. Currently, out of the 12 saffron MLAs, 4 are from the eastern part of the state.

A Boost For Congress In Arunachal Pradesh?

This week, two former ministers of the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh joined the Congress. They are Kumar Waii and Rajesh Tacho. Notably, they were formerly with the Grand Old Party. Waii contested as an NPP candidate from the Bameng assembly constituency but lost to the BJP candidate in the last state assembly elections held in 2019. Rajesh Tocho had joined the BJP in 2014, but didn’t contest the last assembly elections.

Obviously, for the Congress, which has lost its ground in this northeastern state, the return of its leaders is definitely a boost to the party. That’s the reason state party president Nabam Tuki is seeing this as a good beginning for the party.

The state assembly elections are going to be held next year along with the Lok Sabha polls. In the last assembly elections, Congress had won only four seats and finished behind even the JD(U) and the NPP. However, in terms of vote share, it emerged as the second largest party after the BJP, though the former’s 16.85% was much behind the latter’s 50.85%. This shows the Congress has a very challenging task ahead. However, it has space to grow as there is a vacuum in the Opposition. All the JD(U) MLAs had joined the BJP while NPP, although not a part of the saffron cabinet, supports the Pema Khandu-led BJP government.

The author is a political commentator.  

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