NEW DELHI: Nongthombam Biren Singh, the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister in Manipur, stepped down from the top post in the northeastern state on Sunday.
Singh’s resignation was a much sought-after demand of the opposition parties after the state witnessed horrific ethnic clashes, which broke out on May 3, 2023.
In his resignation letter on Sunday, Biren Singh expressed gratitude to the central government for its “timely actions, interventions, developmental work, and implementation of various projects for safeguarding the interest of every single Manipuri.”
Notably, in response to the ethnic violence in Manipur, the central government implemented several measures to restore peace and stability.
Initially, 36,000 personnel from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed to the state. Subsequently, an additional 90 CAPF companies were sent to reinforce security efforts.
The government also replaced the state’s chief secretary and director general of police (DGP), and appointed a security advisor to oversee the situation.
The Centre, to enhance coordination among security agencies, established joint control rooms and developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for critical areas, including highways and vulnerable zones.
However, despite these efforts, challenges persist, such as the infiltration of fighters from Myanmar, which exacerbated the conflict.
The intricacies of the conflict put Biren Singh in the dock who struggled to present a clear way forward in dealing with the conflict.
Last year, Singh even expressed regret over the crisis that marred the state and offered an apology to the people of Manipur for the turmoil that has plagued the region since May 2023.
He, however, also said that only the BJP could save the state entangled in ethnic violence as it believed in the “idea of living together”.
Who is Biren Singh?
A former footballer and journalist, he entered politics in the early 2000s and initially served as a minister in the Congress government before joining the BJP in 2016. In 2017, he led the BJP to power in Manipur for the first time and was sworn in as chief minister.
During his first tenure, the state saw initiatives focused on infrastructure development, digital governance, and efforts to improve law and order, including ethnic tensions and insurgency-related issues.
Biren Singh was re-elected as chief minister in 2022 after the BJP secured a majority in the state assembly elections.
Singh’s government worked on schemes like the “Go to Village” and “Go to Hills” programs to enhance governance accessibility in remote areas.
However, his second tenure hit a massive roadblock after the ethnic violence broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities, leading to a prolonged crisis in the state.