Manipur CM Biren Singh likely to resign as violence continues

Manipur CM Biren Singh is likely to resign amid the ongoing violence in the hill state.

"He is likely to resign today," a senior official in Manipur, who is close to Singh, told DH on Friday morning.

Sources in Manipur said Singh has an appointment with Governor Anusuiya Uikey, in which Singh might put in his papers.

A news report published in a prominent English daily in Manipur triggered a buzz about CM Biren Singh's resignation on Friday mainly due to his alleged failure to stop the violence.

The news report published in Sangai Express said that Singh received several calls from New Delhi on Thursday in which he was offered the option to put in his papers or the Centre would take over the administration. The Assembly is likely to be put in Animated suspension, said the report.

The report, however, said there was no official confirmation about the possibility of Singh's resignation.

Read | Toll rises to 3 in fresh firing in Manipur

The report comes two days after Uikey visited New Delhi and separately met President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, besides others and apprised them about the situation in Manipur and the steps taken to restore peace.

This comes amid Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to the trouble-torn state.

Singh has been drawing flak from the Opposition parties as well as from leaders within his party. Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh, who is from Manipur, was among the prominent leaders who openly alleged that law and order in the state failed. Singh made the allegation after his residence in Imphal was burnt down by miscreants recently. Many organizations including the Opposition Congress too have demanded Singh's removal and imposition of President's Rule.

During his meeting with Singh in New Delhi on June 25, Home Minister Amit Shah also expressed worry about the sporadic incidents of violence and Biren's failure to stop the incidents.

The 62-year-old Biren took oath as Manipur CM for the second term last year after BJP won an absolute majority in the state for the first time.

Biren, a Meitei leader, had switched from Congress to BJP in 2016 and became the CM after the 2017 Assembly elections when BJP came to power for the first time in the state.