Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh is expected to stay in office despite mounting calls for his resignation. On Wednesday, Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Lok Sabha that the CM was ‘cooperating with the Centre’ and that a change was not essential at this time. Opposition politicians say that the people of Manipur have lost confidence in their chief minister and have recently questioned why he has not been fired. The remarks come only days after the Kuki People’s Alliance announced its withdrawal from the N Biren Singh government.
“When a state CM is not cooperating, he must be changed.” This CM is working with the Centre…”I want to appeal to both the Meitei and Kuki communities to avoid violence and engage in dialogue with the government,” Shah said in response to a no-confidence resolution in the Lok Sabha.
Over the last three months, Manipur has been shaken by massive ethnic violence, with more than 150 people killed.
Opposition politicians, however, remained critical of the Manipur chief minister, with the Congress citing a rising “mistrust” between the BJP governments in the state and at the federal level.
“Is this the kind of cooperation extended by Manipur’s chief minister (to the Centre) where arms have been looted from police stations?” The Home Department and the CM lack the fortitude to admit their error. 60,000 people are residing in shelter camps, and the CM is said to be cooperating. “If the PM does not want such cooperation, he should remove the CM on moral grounds,” said Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi in response to Shah’s address.
Jairam Ramesh, general secretary of the Congress, also mentioned the recent FIR filed by Manipur Police against the Assam Rifles. On Twitter, the veteran politician called it a “breakdown of constitutional machinery” and wondered when Prime Minister Narendra Modi would respond.
“This is the FIR filed against Assam Rifles by Manipur Police.” The accompanying loud rhetoric from the Manipur Chief Minister and those around him demonstrates that there is growing mistrust between the BJP government in the State and the BJP government in the Centre?” He wrote.
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