Imphal, Feb 15 Former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned on February 9 to take forward the peace efforts in Manipur, said senior BJP MLA Leishangthem Susindro Meitei, who was a cabinet minister of the Singh-led council of ministry.
Meitei, who was a Minister for Public Health Engineering Department and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, on Saturday, said that a section of people of the state think that the BJP failed to form a new government after the resignation of Biren Singh, as there were too many contenders for the chair.
“Actually Biren Singh quit the chief ministerial post intending that his move would help bring peace in the ethnic violence-ridden state,” Meitei, who was very close to Biren Singh, told the media.
“There are many legislators and leaders who have the quality to become the chief minister, but the CM's post is just one. Therefore, sacrifice is needed and Biren Singh has done it for the greater interest of Manipur," he said.
Meitei said peace in the state has often been disrupted by known and unknown elements through gun and bomb attacks.
“We believe the recent developments were pre-planned. Biren Singh wanted peace, and I feel he stepped down to facilitate it.” Biren Singh, who was leading the BJP-led government since the saffron party for the first time wrested power by defeating the Congress in the 2017 assembly elections, resigned on February 9, hours after returning from Delhi where he had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda.
In the 60-member Assembly, the BJP has 37 MLAs after five of the six Janata Dal (United) legislators joined the party. Five Naga People’s Front (NPF) MLAs and three independents were also supporting the BJP government. BJP’s northeast in-charge Sambit Patra, who also came to Imphal along with Biren Singh on February 9 and since then held a series of meetings with former ministers, MLAs, leaders and Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to resolve the leadership crisis.
After the BJP failed to reach any consensus over the new Chief Minister issue, the Governor recommended to the President to promulgate the President’s rule in the state and put state assembly under suspended animation meaning that the state Assembly can be revived on a future date as and when the President of India deems fit.
Opposition Congress leaders including state Party President Keisham Meghachandra Singh had also claimed on Friday that the leadership crisis within the BJP and its failure to reach a consensus on a chief ministerial candidate led to the imposition of President’s rule in the state.
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