President’s rule in Manipur: All eyes on BJP, Centre

N Biren Singh, who was heading the BJP government in Manipur, resigned as the chief minister on February 9

All eyes are now on the BJP’s central leadership over its next step in strife-torn Manipur, a day after President's rule was imposed in the northeastern state and the Assembly put under suspended animation. The decision to impose President’s rule came as the BJP failed to build a consensus on a chief ministerial candidate.

N Biren Singh, who was heading the BJP government in Manipur, resigned on Sunday as the chief minister after nearly 21 months of ethnic violence that has claimed over 250 lives so far. The Manipur Assembly has a tenure till 2027.

Failure of BJP: Congress

The Congress on Friday said the imposition of President's rule in Manipur is a direct admission of the failure of the BJP governments at the Centre and the state, and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise to the people there.

In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said there is a Constitutional crisis in Manipur that forced the imposition of President's rule. "It is your government which is responsible for National Security and border patrol,” Kharge said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the imposition of President's rule is a belated admission by the BJP of their complete inability to govern. “Now, PM Modi can no longer deny his direct responsibility for Manipur,” he said in a post on X.

Not the solution: CPI (M)

The CPI(M) on Friday said imposition of President's rule underlines the “utter bankruptcy” of the BJP's double engine government, charging that the step was taken to buy time to settle internal conflicts within the ruling coalition. The Left party said imposing President's rule is not the solution, and the Central government cannot escape responsibility.  Rights activist Irom Sharmila also claimed it is merely a way to “evade democratic accountability” for the ongoing ethnic violence in the state.

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