GUWAHATI: Tensions within the BJP’s Manipur unit escalated on Tuesday after 19 of the party’s 37 MLAs, representing various factions along the ethnic divide, skipped an important NDA meeting. The meeting, held the previous night, passed a resolution to take decisive action against “Kuki militants” allegedly responsible for the killing of six Meitei inmates at a shelter for displaced persons in Jiribam.
Reports have surfaced suggesting that the CM’s office may have issued notices to 11 NDA members, including ministers, who abstained from the meeting. In response, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh shared a video message, assuring that the government would take every necessary measure to protect all communities in the state, regardless of their ethnicity.
The meeting had been called after Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) withdrew its support from the NDA government, citing the Chief Minister’s inability to resolve the ongoing violence. The NDA holds 53 seats in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, which includes seven NPP MLAs, five from the Naga People’s Front (NPF), one from JD(U), and three Independents, one of whom is a Kuki. Despite being part of the ruling alliance, seven BJP MLAs from the Kuki community did not attend the meeting, and notably, four NPP legislators were present, even after their party withdrew support from the government.
Among the BJP absentees was Rural Development Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh. Three BJP MLAs and one from NPF had informed the party of their inability to attend, citing health issues.
The opposition includes five Congress MLAs and two from the Kuki People’s Alliance. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh criticized the BJP’s internal rift in Manipur, commenting on the situation on X, “The writing on the wall is clear. But is the grand sutradhar of Manipur – Union Home Minister – reading it?”
At a press conference in New Delhi, alongside PCC chief K Meghachandra Singh, Ramesh demanded that both Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Biren Singh resign for failing to stop the ongoing crisis in Manipur.
In another development, the Manipur government lifted the broadband blackout across the valley districts on Tuesday, citing the hardships faced by citizens, healthcare, and educational institutions. However, mobile internet services remain suspended. The authorities also announced a partial easing of curfew restrictions in Imphal East, Imphal West, and Kakching districts from 5 am to 10 am on Wednesday, allowing people to purchase essential items. Protests and large gatherings will still be prohibited during this window.
