President Rule imposed in violence-hit Manipur

Mangalore Today News Network

Manipur, February 14, 2025: The Union government on Thursday announced that it was imposing President’s Rule in Manipur, potentially averting a Constitutional crisis after failing to find someone to replace former chief minister N Biren Singh who resigned on February 9, and missing a deadline to convene the state’s legislative assembly.

The Manipur assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, was put under suspended animation, which means that the House has not been dissolved, and its members will continue to be MLAs. Such a situation allows parties to try and form a government at a later stage. “It (the assembly) is in suspended animation. The assembly has not been dissolved,” said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s northeast-in-charge, Sambit Patra.

Under Article 356 of the Constitution, the proclamation of President’s Rule must be approved by both Houses of Parliament within two months. Additionally, the proclamation can be extended for six months from the date of its issue. Manipur is the only state or Union territory with an assembly that is currently under President’s Rule.

The imposition of President’s Rule opens a new chapter for the strife-torn state that has been roiled by ethnic clashes for almost two years, killing at least 250 people and displaced another 50,000. The clashes began between the Meitei and the Kuki communities but have since engulfed the entire state. The Opposition and the Kuki community hold Biren Singh responsible for the escalation of violence.

The development – which came after four days of relentless meetings between BJP leaders and Patra, and at least three meetings between the party members and governor Ajay Bhalla – also indicated that a politically acceptable solution to the ethnic divisions remains challenging in the face of sectarian animosity.

The notification, dated February 13, was also issued a day after six months lapsed since the convening of the legislative assembly. According to some experts, under Article 174(1) of the Constitution, the maximum time permitted between two legislative assembly sessions is six months and therefore the administration was up against a deadline that lapsed on Wednesday. But other experts said that this stipulation does not apply in a situation where the chief minister has resigned.

The political drama began on Sunday when Biren Singh resigned as Manipur’s chief minister, hours after a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah that followed days of rising discord within the BJP’s state unit and the threat of a no-confidence motion in the assembly.

Biren Singh submitted his resignation to Bhalla a day before the state assembly was scheduled to convene for the budget session, which was scrapped on Sunday evening. The resignation came five days after the Supreme Court directed a central forensics lab for a report on leaked audio tapes that allegedly feature Biren Singh and where he is purportedly heard as saying the ethnic violence in the state was instigated at his insistence. It is believed that the threat of a no-confidence motion and the court’s direction may have convinced the BJP to ask Singh to go; it stuck with him for over two years even as disenchantment with his handling of the crisis in Manipur grew, even within the party’s local unit. Reports suggested that up to 10 BJP legislators were prepared to cross party lines during the assembly session.

Since then, the BJP has held a series of meetings to find political stability in a state that has been roiled by ethnic violence since May 2023. For the past four days, Patra held a string of closed door meetings with at least four to five lawmakers – including speaker T Satyabrata Singh, education minister Y Khemchand, Th Biswajit, former minister Th Radheshyam, and minister Awangboi Newmai – who were seen as front-runners to replace Biren Singh. But the meetings didn’t make much headway as the front-runners were unable to get the support of fellow lawmakers because around 26 legislators, seen as loyal to Biren Singh, refused to support anyone else.

“Those MLAs (front-runners) did not have the numbers. MLAs loyal to the CM always viewed them as legislators who had worked against the party and caused more trouble during the ethnic clashes,” said a BJP functionary, requesting anonymity. On Thursday morning, Patra met Bhalla for the fourth time in four days.

Bhalla’s office is yet to issue a statement on the new administration or the appointment of administrators for different departments in the state. Currently, the state has nearly 50,000 security personnel, including army and central armed police forces. Security adviser Kuldiep Singh is the chairman of the unified command in Manipur. “Until this evening, there are no transfers or appointments. Most likely, there will be advisors appointed in key departments here,” a police officer said, requesting anonymity.

Since Independence, President’s Rule has been often imposed in various states. But an instance of central rule being clamped in a state ruled by the same party that controls the Union government is rare.

Kuki-Zo civil society organisation, Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, said President’s Rule was preferable over a Meitei chief minister. “The Kuki-Zo do not trust Meitei anymore, so a new Meitei CM is still far from comforting. President’s Rule will give a ray of hope to the Kuki-Zo, and we believe that it will be one step closer to our political solution,” said Ginza Vualzong, spokesperson of the body.

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity, an umbrella organisation of several Meitei civil society groups, said it will issue a statement on Friday. COCOMI convener Khuraijam Athouba did not respond to HT’s queries seeking comments.

The Congress criticised the Union government and said the move has come too late. “The imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur is a belated admission by the BJP of their complete inability to govern in Manipur. Now, PM Modi can no longer deny his direct responsibility for Manipur. Has he finally made up his mind to visit the state, and explain to the people of Manipur and India his plan to restore peace and normalcy?” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked.

BJP Manipur president A Sharda, at her office in Imphal, told a group of media, “After N Biren Singh tendered his resignation on February 9, the President of India, under the Constitution of India, imposed ‘suspended animation’. During this period, the Manipur House is not dissolved and can remain functional at any time,” Devi said.