Manipur CM Biren quits after 21 months of crisis

Biren Singh attends Delhi meeting with BJP brass at Union home minister Shah's house, quits in Imphal

- Prawesh Lama and Smriti Kak Ramachandran

IMPHAL/NEW DELHI: N Biren Singh resigned as Manipur's chief minister on Sunday, hours after a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah that followed days of discord within the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) state unit and the threat of a no-confidence motion in the assembly, nearly 21 months after ethnic violence that has killed over 250 and displaced several thousands scorched the northeastern province.

Singh submitted his resignation to Manipur governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla in state capital Imphal around 5.30 pm a day before the state assembly was scheduled to convene for the budget session, which was scrapped on Sunday evening.

"It has been an honour to serve the people of Manipur thus far. I am extremely grateful to the central government for timely actions, interventions, developmental work and implementation of various projects for safeguarding the interests of every single Manipur," Singh said in his resignation letter.

He was accompanied by the BJP's northeast in-charge Sambit Patra, state president A Sharda and 19 MLAs. Patra will remain in Imphal, where he will help hone in on the party's pick as Singh's successor.

The resignation came five days after the Supreme Court directed a central forensics lab for a report on leaked audio tapes that allegedly feature Singh and where he is purportedly heard saying the ethnic violence in the state was instigated at his insistence.

Opposition parties accused the BJP of removing Singh from his position "belatedly" to keep its government from collapsing and for fear of recrimination from the Supreme Court.

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress's Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said Singh "instigated division in Manipur" for two years.

"Prime Minister Modi allowed him to continue despite the violence, loss of life, and the destruction of the idea of India in Manipur," he said on X.