The Congress on Sunday termed N Biren Singh’s resignation from the post of Manipur chief minister as “belated” and said people of the state were now awaiting a visit by “our frequent-flier Prime Minister” Narendra Modi.
The opposition party’s attack came shortly after Singh tendered his resignation to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal.
AICC general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the Congress was all set to move a no-confidence motion against Singh and his council of ministers in the Manipur Assembly on Monday.
“Sensing the climate, the Manipur chief minister has just resigned. This was a demand that the Congress has been making since early May 2023, when Manipur erupted,” he said in a post on X.
“The chief minister’s resignation was belated. The people of Manipur now await a visit by our frequent-flier prime minister who is off to France and the US now — and who has found neither the time nor the inclination to go to Manipur these past 20 months,” Ramesh said.
Singh’s resignation came hours after he returned from Delhi.
In a letter to the governor, he said, “It has been an honour to serve the people of Manipur thus far. I am extremely grateful to the central government for time 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 civilisational history over thousands of years,” he added.
Singh also requested the Centre to continue the “crackdown on border infiltration and to formulate policy for the deportation of the illegal immigrants and the fight against drugs and narco terrorism”.
He urged the central government “to continue the stringent and fool-proof revised mechanism of Free Movement Regime with the biometric being stringently applied time bound and faster border which is underway”.
On Saturday, Singh convened a meeting with BJP-led ruling alliance MLAs at the Secretariat. The meeting was held in the wake of the opposition Congress seeking to move a no-confidence motion against the government.
More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless since ethnic violence broke out in the state in May 2023. (PTI)
