No confidence in Biren Singh Govt

SHILLONG/IMPHAL:
A day after withdrawing support from the BJP-led government in Manipur, National People’s Party (NPP) supremo and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Monday said that there is no confidence left in the regime of Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the trouble-torn state.

The NPP also urged the Centre to take serious note of what is happening in Manipur now and take urgent steps to restore peace, and normalcy besides reinstatement of trust and confidence of the people in the government.

Talking to the media in Shillong, Sangma clarified that his party’s withdrawal of support is only from the Biren Singh-led government, not from the BJP or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

If there is a leadership change and positive impact in that change, the NPP would consider supporting the Manipur government again, he added.

“We were hopeful that the situation would improve in Manipur and we were supporting the state government with a hope towards restoration of peace and normalcy,” the NPP chief said, adding that during the last week, the situation in Manipur has turned very bad and the NPP had been discussing the situation with Central leaders of the BJP.

“We have suggested that trust needs to be built, it’s because of the trust deficit that the overall efforts to bring peace are not reaching a logical conclusion. No trust-building efforts were taken. We strongly felt that there is no confidence of our party in the current leadership of the Biren Singh-led government,” Sangma said.

He observed that violence is not a way to bring a solution but sentiments are high.

Sangma said that as the second largest party in Manipur after the BJP, the NPP would continue to cooperate to bring peace to the state.

Amidst renewed ethnic turmoil and violence in Manipur, the NPP on Sunday announced it was withdrawing its support from the BJP-led government in the state.

Sangma, in a letter to BJP President J.P. Nadda, had said that his party has decided to withdraw its support to the Biren-Singh government in Manipur with immediate effect.

“The NPP would like to convey its deep concern over the prevailing law and order situation in the state of Manipur. In the last few days, we have seen the situation further deteriorate where many more innocent lives have been lost and people in the state are going through immense suffering. We strongly feel that the Manipur government under the leadership of Shri Biren Singh has completely failed to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy,” the NPP supremo said in the letter.

The NPP in Manipur has also been facing a rift as seven MLAs were divided over continuing support to the BJP government. “As the people are against the BJP government in Manipur, our MLAs are also under tremendous pressure to raise their opposition against the state government,” an NPP leader in Imphal said.

The NPP has been supporting the BJP-led government in Manipur since it first came to power in Manipur in 2017 defeating the Congress. In the 2022 Assembly polls, the NPP secured seven seats in the 60-member house and continued to support the BJP-led government in the state.

However, with the withdrawal of support by the NPP, the BJP government faces no imminent threat of instability as the party has 32 legislators, and has support from the Janata Dal-United’s six members, the Naga People’s Front’s five members and three Independent legislators. However, ever since the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 last year, 10 tribal MLAs, including seven BJP legislators, have been boycotting the Assembly and demanding a separate administration or Union Territory for the tribals in Manipur.