Reading into the resignation reality CM Biren steps down !
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Nearly two years and the ongoing ethnic violence has claimed its first big political casualty in the person of Chief Minister N Biren. The political drama that led to the Chief Minister submitting his resignation to Governor AK Bhalla would not have missed the eyes and ears of anyone and even as news of the resignation, complete with the resignation letter, started going viral on the social media, The Sangai Express received numerous calls, even from those section of people believed to be the least interested in anything associated with politics. And even as the news of the resignation went viral on the social media, another set of questions also went viral with many asking, what next ? Who is most likely to become the next Chief Minister ? Has the Assembly been kept under suspended animation ? Two of the more pressing questions at the moment and equally important is the question of whether the Chief Minister was asked to put in his resignation paper following the open stand of some dissident MLAs from within the BJP to move a no confidence motion or taking into consideration the fact that the violence has continued for too long, with nothing much to suggest that there is a Government in place ? Nothing much is clear at the moment, but equally important too is the question of whether Manipur can explore more avenues to put the place on the path of normalcy now that the Chief Minister has stepped down ? It is also important to question whether the dissident MLAs have any formula they have in mind to take Manipur to the path of normalcy or recovery from the blows it has received in nearly two years. Or will the status quo, in so far as the situation is concerned, continue ? If yes then what is the point in raising the banner of dissent against the Chief Minister ? Only questions at the moment, but now that the Chief Minister has stepped down, what can Manipur expect in the coming days ? Will this mean taking Manipur to a phase from where she can start on a fresh slate, with the two communities at war more than willing to explore new avenues to put the place on the road to normalcy ? Or has the Chief Minister been made to put in his paper for Delhi does not want a no-confidence motion to be initiated by its own men ? The answer could be anything, but the bigger and more crucial question is whether the Chief Minister has been made the fall guy, a role he took on without much of a whimper of protest after Manipur went up in flames in the evening of May 3, 2023. And when Manipur looks back at the years from 2023 to February 2025, say ten or fifteen years down the line, this question will continue to hang heavy.
Manipur should not forget that the seeming failure of the State Government, when N Biren Singh was at the helm, came even as nothing was clear on whether Article 355 has been imposed or not. It came about even when the Chief Minister was shunted out of the Unified Command as its Chairman and when even Delhi took it upon itself to decide who should be the Chief Secretary as well as the DGP, defeating the widely understood norms of the Chief Minister having his men as the Chief Secretary and the DGP. It was not for nothing why the Chief Minister had himself openly admitted not so long back that he has not received any intelligence inputs in the last 15 months. Again it should say something significant that the Chief Minister was even stopped from visiting Koutruk when the said place came under attacks with weaponised drones. And remember the line, ‘You look after the valley, I will look after the hills’ line from the Union Home Minister to the Chief Minister in the earlier days of the conflict. So even as Chief Minister N Biren has stepped down, one should not forget the reality, an arrangement where he was made to take all the blame while the shot was effectively called by the arrangements put in place by Delhi. The pity was, not a whimper of protest came from the Chief Minister and this was what was jarring. For the moment, the question uppermost in the minds of the people is, what next ?
Manipur should not forget that the seeming failure of the State Government, when N Biren Singh was at the helm, came even as nothing was clear on whether Article 355 has been imposed or not. It came about even when the Chief Minister was shunted out of the Unified Command as its Chairman and when even Delhi took it upon itself to decide who should be the Chief Secretary as well as the DGP, defeating the widely understood norms of the Chief Minister having his men as the Chief Secretary and the DGP. It was not for nothing why the Chief Minister had himself openly admitted not so long back that he has not received any intelligence inputs in the last 15 months. Again it should say something significant that the Chief Minister was even stopped from visiting Koutruk when the said place came under attacks with weaponised drones. And remember the line, ‘You look after the valley, I will look after the hills’ line from the Union Home Minister to the Chief Minister in the earlier days of the conflict. So even as Chief Minister N Biren has stepped down, one should not forget the reality, an arrangement where he was made to take all the blame while the shot was effectively called by the arrangements put in place by Delhi. The pity was, not a whimper of protest came from the Chief Minister and this was what was jarring. For the moment, the question uppermost in the minds of the people is, what next ?