NEW DELHI, Feb 14: Opposition parties on Friday said the President’s rule was imposed in strife-torn Manipur “to buy time to settle internal conflicts within the ruling coalition” as they asked the ruling BJP to acknowledge its “failure” in the state.
They also questioned why the government offered no clarification on Manipur in Parliament and why there was a delay in removing Biren Singh as chief minister. They also asked if there was a future plan for the state that has been in a state of chaos since ethnic violence erupted in May 2023.
President’s rule was imposed in Manipur on Thursday and the state assembly put under suspended animation, days after Biren Singh resigned from his post.
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The Congress on Friday said the imposition of President’s rule in Manipur is a direct admission of the failure of the BJP governments at the Centre and the state, and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise to the people there.
In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said there is a Constitutional crisis in Manipur that forced the imposition of the President’s rule.
“Narendra Modi ji, It is your party which has been ruling at the Centre for 11 years. It is your party which was ruling Manipur for 8 years. It is the BJP which was responsible for maintaining Law & Order in the state.
“It is your government which is responsible for National Security and border patrol. The imposition of President’s rule by YOU, suspending YOUR own party’s government is a direct admission on how YOU failed the people of Manipur,” Kharge said.
The CPI(M) politburo, in a statement, said the imposition of the President’s rule underlines the “utter bankruptcy” of the BJP’s “double-engine” government.
It demanded that all political parties be taken into confidence to bring back normalcy in the state.
“President’s rule has been imposed not in the interests of Manipur but to buy time to settle internal conflicts within the ruling coalition,” the statement said.
The party said, “The (former) chief minister (N Biren Singh), the main culprit, who was backed all along by the BJP-RSS was forced to resign because his partisan role was being examined by a court where evidence was presented of his sectarian partisan role which left him with no choice but to quit”.
The CPI(M) said the central leadership of the ruling party (BJP) refused to take the required action to alleviate the deep suffering inflicted on the people of Manipur, “symbolised by the prime minister’s callous refusal to even visit the troubled state”.
“This exposes the sectarian approach of the ruling party and the state and central government it heads, which put its own political interests above that of the state and its people,” they said.
The CPI(M) party said imposing the President’s rule is not the solution, and the Central government cannot escape responsibility.
“It must immediately initiate measures to heal the deep divisions through negotiations with representatives of different communities, taking all political parties into confidence to arrive at just solutions to bring normalcy, peace and harmony while protecting the democratic rights of the people of the state, including the holding of elections within a time framework,” they said.
Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja questioned the government if it has any roadmap for a political solution for the state.
“Imposition of President’s rule in Manipur has confirmed the utter failure of the BJP government in Manipur and utter failure of the Union government led by Mr Narenda Modi as PM and Amit Shah as home minister,” Raja told PTI.
“BJP should own up responsibility for what is happening in Manipur today… They have accepted their failure that is why they have imposed President’s rule,” he said.
The CPI leader added that there is no transparency in the government’s action and questioned why no clarification was given by the government despite the issue being raised in Parliament by opposition members.
“There is no transparency… They don’t take political parties, Parliament in confidence to discuss this very serious matter. The Manipur issue was raised several times in Parliament,” he said.
“Mr Modi goes to France, America, let him go to any country we have no problem with, but he should go to Manipur also,” he said.
“What is the roadmap to find a political solution to Manipur, nobody knows. That is why our party is of the view that an all-party meeting should be convened in Manipur, there should be a discussion with stakeholders. Right now we don’t know what is in the mind of the BJP and the Union government. They are keeping the assembly under suspended animation. What next?” he said.
Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said he hoped peace would be restored in the state soon.
“People of Manipur — regardless of whether they are supporters of BJP or Congress or are common people — ever since the strife started, people were saying that as long as this chief minister is here, peace cannot be restored in Manipur,” Yadav told PTI.
“When the home minister had called a meeting of floor leaders on the Manipur issue, I had suggested that the chief minister should be removed. All parties agreed with that, but there was much delay. We are now hopeful peace will be restored in Manipur,” he said.
Ethnic violence has been raging in Manipur for the past 21 months, leaving around 250 people dead. (PTI)
