Key Points

The Rajya Sabha member urged all political leaders to unite in dealing with the challenges the state has been facing. “I strongly hope that a popular government will be installed in Manipur within the next two months. The President’s rule alone cannot resolve the prevailing issues. A popular government can function closely in tandem with the people and find a solution to the present ethnic crisis,” the 53-year-old parliamentarian told the media.

He agreed with public criticism that the state’s elected legislators and leaders have failed to work jointly and decisively in dealing with the ethnic crisis. “A section of people have placed personal goals above the state’s welfare and interests. The President's rule had to be imposed in the state as some people prioritised power and self-interest over the state’s welfare,” the Rajya Sabha member said without naming any leader or MLA.

Manipur has been under the President's Rule since February 13, four days after the resignation of N. Biren Singh from the Chief Minister’s post. The 60-member Manipur Assembly, which, after the promulgation of President's Rule, has been put under suspended animation, has a tenure till 2027.

BJP's North East In-charge Sambit Patra, last week, visited the state’s Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts and met Kuki BJP MLAs Vungzagin Valte and Nemcha Kipgen and several Kuki-Zo and Civil society organisations, including Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU). Kipgen was the lone woman Minister in the former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh-led government in Manipur.

Patra, a Member of Parliament from Puri Lok Sabha constituency (Odisha), also held closed-door meetings with former CM Biren Singh, Manipur Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh and various other leaders and MLAs in Imphal. Neither Patra nor the BJP disclosed the matter of discussions of the BJP leader's series of meetings during his three-day stay in Manipur.

The BJP’s North East in-charge’s visit was held nearly a week after 21 Manipur MLAs wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, urging them to reinstate a "popular government" in the state. The letters were separately submitted at the Prime Minister's Office and the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs on April 29.

According to an MLA, of the 21 legislators, most of the signatories in the letters belong to the BJP and the remaining are from the National People's Party (NPP), Naga People's Front (NPF) and two independent legislators. The letter of the MLAs to the Prime Minister and the Union Home had said that the people of Manipur welcome the President's Rule with lots of hope and expectations, but no visible actions to bring peace and normalcy in the state have been seen so far.

In a bid to resolve the two-year-long ethnic hostilities, the first tripartite meeting between the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the representatives of Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities was held in New Delhi on April 5.

- IANS