As Recent Manipur Violence Widens Gap Between Kukis And Meiteis, Is BJP's Big Move Expected On CM Biren Singh?

The recent clashes in Manipur have widened the gap between the Kukis and the Meiteis and now reports stated that 10 Kuki MLAs, including seven from the ruling BJP, two of whom are state ministers, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah this week and demanded a separate administration for the Kukis. The MLAs claimed that Meitei Manipuris no longer trusted the Kukis. The MLAs apparently blamed the N Biren Singh-led BJP government for the recent clashes. Two of the MLAs belonged to the Kuki People’s Alliance, which is currently supporting the BJP government, and another independent MLA backs the saffron dispensation.

This demand for separate administration for Kukis, accounting for 30 per cent of the state population is problematic as the hills of the state are inhabited by the Nagas too who represent 15 per cent of the population. In the 1990s, the state had witnessed large-scale violence as a result of distrust between Nagas and Kukis, who although ethnically are different but religiously Christian. Out of the 20 MLAs from the hills, 10 each belong to the Kukis and Nagas.  

Doubts On Biren Singh-Led Govt?

However, amid murmurs of the growing distrust between the two communities, Chief Minister Biren Singh said Amit Shah has assured him that the territorial unity and integrity of the state wouldn’t be compromised. But this doesn’t solve the problem. 

After the horrific violent clashes, which killed over 70 people and resulted in the displacement of over 35,000, the existing fault lines between Meiteis and Kukis have only deepened — and this has to be reduced for the development of the state and the northeastern region.

The clashes have also left a scar on the effectiveness of the state government led by Biren Singh, a former Congress leader belonging to the Meitei community. What complicates matters for him is that he has been facing dissent from his own party MLAs, including from a section of Meitei MLAs. Now, with 10 Kuki MLAs — all backing the BJP-NDA and openly expressing their dissent, things are turning more difficult for Biren Singh ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. It is to be mentioned that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, out of the two seats, the saffron party had only won the Inner Manipur seat, that too with a small margin of less than three per cent.

Signs Of Internal Rivalry Within Tipra Motha

This week the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) inducted three Executive Members — Rabindra Debbarma, Ananta Debbarma and Runail Debbarma. The tribal body, currently ruled by the TIPRA Motha of the royal scion Pradyot Debbarma, has 30 members, including the two nominated by the Governor of the state.

The tribal body has the provision to have 10 Executive Members, including the Chief Executive Member (CEM). It had two vacant posts but after the elections of two EMs — Animesh Debbarma and Chitta Ranjan Debbarma — to the state assembly, two more posts were vacant. Animesh, who is currently the leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, was earlier the deputy CEM of the council.

However, the inductions of the EMs didn’t go well within the TIPRA Motha. The South Zonal Chairman of the ADC Debojit Tripura resigned from the post citing health reasons. He is a Member of the District Council from the Purba-Mahuripur Barutali seat. But is it the main reason? There are no EMs from the South Tripura district. It seems that Debojit was hoping that he would be inducted into one of the four vacant posts of EM, but he wasn’t. Though after three inductions, one post of the EM is lying vacant in the ADC. There has been a brewing dissent within the party as a section isn’t happy with the unilateral flip-flop decisions taken by Pradyot. This resignation of Debojit seems to be an early sign of dissent indicating what is going to happen in the near future within Motha.

MNF Manages To Secure Majority In Chakma Autonomous District Council

The ruling party of Mizoram, the Mizo National Front, this week secured a majority in the Chakma Autonomous District Council after five members of the council — three from the BJP and two from Congress — joined the party. As a result, the MNF with 15 Members of District Council (MDCs) has a comfortable majority in the council. Last week the results of the CADC were declared and the MNF secured 10 seats, just one short of a majority. The BJP and the Congress won five and four seats respectively. On the other hand, the election result of the Rengkashya seat, which was countermanded following the killing of the BJP candidate, was declared this Friday when Congress won the seat. With this win, the grand old party now has three MDCs while BJP is left with two. 

By managing the majority in the council, the MNF has been able to gain confidence ahead of the assembly elections to be held at the end of this year. No doubt that it has gained an upper hand in the Chakma-dominated areas and has been able to deal a blow to the Opposition, particularly the BJP. The only assembly constituency — the Tuichawng assembly constituency — falling under this council was won by BJP last time. 

But the impact of this result is likely to extend beyond the areas of the council. All the Chakmas, who practice Buddhism and are the largest religious minority group of the state, don’t reside within the council. Outside the area of the council, there is another Chakma majority seat, West Tuipui. Apart from that, in the Thorang seat, Chakmas have a sizable presence. In this seat, around 30 per cent of the population are Chakmas. Both the seats were won by Congress in the last elections.

The author is a political commentator. 

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