Biren Singh resigned because the Centre was compelled, it is not an act of conscience: Bimol Akoijam

Congress MP A. Bimol Akoijam criticizes Manipur CM's removal, questions Centre's accountability and calls for responsible governance.

A day after Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned from his post following a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, Congress MP A. Bimol Akoijam on Monday (February 10, 2025) said that Mr. Singh’s removal was “not an act of conscience; it was because the Centre was compelled to remove him”.

Inner Manipur MP Mr. Akoijam also insisted that the reason Mr. Singh had lost the support of his own party’s legislators was because of the constant pressure created by the Opposition, in Parliament and outside, especially after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The parliamentary polls saw Mr. Akoijam and his party colleague Alfred Kan-ngam Arthur unseat BJP and its ally NPF from the two Lok Sabha seats of the State.

Mr. Akoijam, who rose in popularity because of his writings and speeches after the ethnic conflict began in Manipur and continues to be a professor at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that the real test for the Centre’s intent for Manipur was yet to come. “Whether they take it as a moment to correct themselves will show whether they care,” he told The Hindu on Monday.

Mr. Akoijam added that true accountability would come when the Union government took its share of the responsibility. “Do you think Biren would have survived without the blessings of Amit Shah and Modi duo?” he asked, adding that Mr. Singh’s removal was akin to what armed forces referred to as a “false flag operation”. “He has been used and thrown,” Mr. Akoijam said.

While Mr. Singh remained the caretaker Chief Minister of the State amidst uncertainty over the next steps, Mr. Akoijam, who has often spoken out about the importance of maintaining the federal structure, said he would “rather have a new State government than President’s Rule, as a matter of principal”. He added that the Centre could have invoked President’s Rule much earlier in the conflict if they wanted to but they did not do so.

Nevertheless, Mr. Akoijam maintained that there were four key issues that needed to be dealt with in Manipur now — addressing genuine concerns of various communities about how they perceive they have been treated; the problem of drugs in the State; the degradation of its forests, lakes, and rivers; and the entire State’s disarmament but with an eye on treating each armed group differently.

Elaborating on the last point, he explained that in Manipur, there were many different sections of people with weapons and in disarming the State, groups like village volunteers, criminally minded people, and members of proscribed armed outfits cannot be treated the same way.