‘Remove Manipur CM Biren Singh’ call echoes at Opposition-Centre meet over violence

After an all-party meeting, convened by Union home minister Amit Shah to discuss the prevailing situation in Manipur, on Saturday, several leaders from opposition parties raised.

Their reservations about chief minister N Biren Singh’s leadership in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state. The Congress said peace in violence-hit Manipur is not possible under Singh and demanded that the prime minister replaces him immediately.

The high-level talks were held in New Delhi to take stock of the situation in the violence-wracked northeastern state as it struggles to return to normalcy since the ethnic clashes broke out on May 3.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha criticised the CM’s handling of the crisis and said “there is absolutely no trust in him” and the entire Opposition raised this concern at the meeting that it would not be possible to restore peace “until that person is in-charge”.

“…the person, who is heading the administration there (Manipur), there is absolutely no trust in him….you can’t have peace until that person is in-charge…Opposition emphaised that Manipur requires a healing touch and for that it needs a face that must unite and not divide,” Jha told reporters after the meeting.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi echoed similar sentiments during her interaction with the media. Chaturvedi said she has met various communities from Manipur and “they don’t trust the CM”. “The accountability starts with the state government…” she added.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Tiruchi Siva said Amit Shah asked the opposition parties to have trust in him and that he is looking after the situation in Manipur and assured that “he will restore the peace”.

The DMK leader also raised concern over Modi’s silence on the issue. “We requested that the all-party delegation to be sent to Manipur. He (Amit Shah) said we have deployed more police that’s what we suggested…It is not law and order breakdown to be controlled by police and army or Assam rifles…. It is a failure of the governance in the state and the union government…,” he further lashed out at the central government.

The demand for an all-party meet delegation to visit Manipur was also raised by the Trinamool Congress, represented by MP Derek O’Brien at the meeting. In a statement for the all-party meeting, the TMC accused the government of “ignoring” the needs of the Manipur people and asked if the Modi government was “trying to turn Manipur into Kashmir.”

Manipur was engulfed in violence on May 3 when clashes erupted during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU). The rally was held in protest against the demand for the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list.

The all-party meeting was attended by senior BJP functionaries, including party president president JP Nadda, Union minister Piyush Goyal, among others. The Communist Party of India, however, was not invited to the meeting.