Guwahati/Imphal: Amid resignations and reports of growing dissent within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh held a meeting with party legislators — including the rebels leaders — in Imphal on Thursday.
BJP northeast in charge Sambit Patra and BJP state president A. Sharda Devi also attended the meeting at the party headquarters.
The CM said the meeting was held to discuss and review preparations for celebrations to mark the 100th episode Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio broadcast Mann ki Baat this Sunday.
He also dismissed rumours of troubles in the party. “We’re all together now,” Biren Singh told reporters after the meeting.
The development comes at a time when at least four legislators have resigned from various positions in the state establishment, sparking speculations of a demand for “leadership change”.
Significantly, three of the four legislators — Uripok MLA Khwairakpam Raghumani Singh, Heirok MLA and retired IPS officer Thokchom Radheshyam Singh, and Langthabal MLA Karam Shyam — attended Thursday’s meeting after they returned from Delhi.
All four MLAs were reportedly camping in Delhi to meet senior party leaders and met Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region B.L.Verma.
The fourth MLA, Wangjing Tentha legislator Paonam Brojen Singh, was not present at the meeting.
Trouble has been brewing for the Biren Singh government, which won a second term in 2022, this month with a stream of resignations that began with Thokchom Radheshyam on 13 April. A former adviser to Biren Singh, Thokchom Radheshyam wrote in his resignation letter that he was never given any responsibility, never had an audience with the CM and was “never part of any decision-making or meeting”.
More resignations followed. On 17 April, Langthabal MLA Karam Shyam resigned as chairman of Tourism Corporation of Manipur Limited; Paonam Brojen stepped down as chairman of Manipur Development Society on 20 April; Raghumani Singh, a former IAS officer, put in his papers as chairman of the Manipur Renewable Energy Development Agency on 24 April.
It’s yet unknown if the CM has officially accepted their resignations.
On his part, Biren Singh said his MLAs had “gone to Delhi for treatment”. “Nothing (no difference in opinion or conflict) is there. They went there (Delhi) for treatment and came back,” he told the media.
Meanwhile, BJP insiders said that while some leaders held one-to-one discussions with Patra after the meeting, neither Radheshyam Singh nor Karam Shyam waited.
It’s still unclear if Raghumani Singh, who cited personal reasons for his resignation, met him separately.
Trouble in Biren Singh’s govt
The resignations by party colleagues have also led to speculations of corroding support for Biren Singh. On 21 April — a day after MLA Paonam Brojen’s resignation — the chief minister dismissed talks of a crisis in the state’s BJP unit. He had explained the absence of the four MLAs from the political scene, stating one had taken a leave of absence and was in Indore while three others were in Delhi for treatment.
“Everyone has attended the meeting,” Biren had said then.
However, all the four BJP MLAs have aired the grievances in public. Like Thokchom Radheshyam, Langthabal MLA Karam Shyam said in his resignation letter that he wasn’t given any responsibilities.
While BJP MLA Paonam Brojen cited “personal reasons while stepping down”, he later made his grievances public through a video message in which he claimed that the government had not cleared bills for several road development projects in the state.
In a cryptic Facebook post hours after his resignation, Raghumani Singh seemingly took potshots at the BJP state leadership.
“BJP is a party that stands against family politics, truly believes in consultative decision-making at all levels and not in a SHOW run by only 2/3 people. The motto of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas’ given by Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modiji which ensures no favouritism/biasness in the development and progress of the people,” he posted without taking names.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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