Manipur CM N Biren Singh resigns, says honour to serve people of state

PTI, IMPHAL, FEB 9 – Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday tendered his resignation to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal, officials said.

In a letter to the governor, Singh said, "It has been an honour to serve the people of Manipur thus far. I am extremely grateful to the central government for its timely actions, interventions, developmental work, and implementation of various projects for safeguarding the interests of every single Manipuri."

"My sincere request to the central government through your good office is to continue with the same. I take the opportunity to enumerate the most important ones of them... To maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur, which has a rich and diverse civilizational history over thousands of years," the letter added.

He also requested the Centre to continue the "crackdown on border infiltration and to formulate a policy for the deportation of the illegal immigrants and the fight against drugs and narco-terrorism."

The CM urged the central government "to continue the stringent and fool-proof revised mechanism of Free Movement Regime (FMR) with the biometric system being stringently applied in a time-bound manner for faster border control, which is underway."

Singh's resignation came hours after he returned from Delhi. On Saturday, Singh convened a meeting with BJP-led ruling alliance MLAs at the CM Secretariat. The meeting was held in the wake of the opposition Congress seeking to move a no-confidence motion against the government led by Singh.

More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless since ethnic violence broke out in the state in May 2023.

Meanwhile, state BJP president A Sharda confirmed that Chief Minister N Biren Singh tendered his resignation to the governor in the interest of the people of the state. "We are yet to receive further instructions from the party," he told reporters.

Sharda asserted that Singh worked tirelessly for the development and integrity of the state. "He has been trying to bring peace to the state since the ethnic violence broke out on May 3, 2023. The BJP will continue to work hard for the integrity of the state," she added.