Manipur CM Biren Singh likely to resign today, expected to meet Governor: Report

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh may resign on Friday amid the law-and-order crisis in the state due to ethnic clashes. Singh is expected to meet the state Governor Anusuiya Uikey around 1-1:30 pm today.  

CM Singh was given the option of either putting in his paper or the Centre would step in and take things over. On Sunday, Singh had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed the violence in Manipur. He said he had briefed the home minister about the "evolving situation on the ground" in the state as per news agency PTI. 

The ongoing ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur have resulted in over 100 deaths till now. The violence initially erupted on May 3 following the organization of a 'Tribal Solidarity March' in the hill districts. 

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday reached Moirang to meet the people affected due to ethnic clashes in the northeastern state.  

Gandhi reached Moirang by a chopper from Imphal around 9.30 am and met a number of affected people in two relief camps and listened to their plight. He was accompanied by former Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, party general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, PCC president Keisham Meghachandra Singh and former MP Ajay Kumar. 

Taking to Instagram, Gandhi said: “It’s heartbreaking to see and listen to the plight of those who have lost loved ones and homes due to the violence in Manipur.”  

“There is a cry for help in the face of every brother, sister and child I meet,” he added.  

“The most important thing Manipur needs now is Peace - to secure the lives and livelihoods of our people. All our efforts must unite towards that goal,” Gandhi said. 

On Thursday, the former Congress chief visited relief camps in Churachandpur, one of the worst affected towns in the ethnic clashes. 

Following Gandhi’s comments, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the situation in Manipur requires compassion rather than a political leader exacerbating existing divisions. He said Gandhi's day-long trip to Manipur was "mere media hype". 

"He (Rahul Gandhi) is visiting Manipur just for a day. It is nothing but media hype. Had there been positive results from the visit, it would have been a different matter, but there would be no outcome from such a visit," Sarma said. 

He added: "The situation in Manipur demands bridging differences through compassion. It’s not in the nation’s interest for a political leader to use his so-called visit to exacerbate fault lines."