Centre imposes President's Rule in Manipur as BJP fails to choose Biren Singh's successor

President’s rule has been imposed in Manipur, the ethnic violence-hit northeastern state of India.

The development comes three days after the resignation of N Biren Singh as the state’s chief minister. According to reports, the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to build a consensus on Biren Singh’s successor.

Constitutional crisis?

It is to be noted that the imposition of the presidential rule in Manipur can also be viewed in the light of Article 174(1) of the Constitution, which mandates the state assemblies to convene at least once every six months.

In Manipur, the assembly last gathered on August 12 last year, making February 12 the deadline to hold the next session.

However, the state’s governor on Monday (February 10) called off the budget session citing the CM’s resignation.

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Pressure from opposition

Biren Singh’s resignation on Sunday came just a day before he was set to face a no-confidence motion and a crucial floor test. The opposition Congress party alleged that the resignation was a bid by the CM to save himself and not the state, which has been reeling under ethnic clashes for almost two years.

Following the resignation, Congress’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi alleged that the ruling BJP had no plan ready to solve the crisis in the state.

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Singh had been facing opposition from within his party, leading some of the dissident lawmakers to even reach capital Delhi to meet with the party’s senior officials.

For instance, Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, who has been a vocal critic of Biren Singh, visited Delhi last week and met with BJP president JP Nadda.

Manipur’s ethnic violence

Since ethnic violence began in the state almost two years ago between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zomi-Hmar communities, 258 people have died and more than 59,000 have faced displacement.

Kuki-Zomi-Hmar groups had been calling for Singh’s removal for months citing his alleged partisan approach and majoritarian policies.

(With inputs from agencies)