New Delhi: A threat from BJP MLAs to back the Opposition Congress’s no-confidence motion in the state assembly—potentially toppling their own government—pushed the BJP central leadership to demand N. Biren Singh’s resignation as Manipur chief minister Sunday, BJP sources told ThePrint.
The 7th session of Manipur assembly, which was scheduled to beging Monday, has now been cancelled.
Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla accepted the resignation of Singh along with his council of ministers. However, Singh will remain in office until “alternative arrangements” are made, according to a release from Bhalla’s office Sunday night.
Sambit Patra, BJP’s Northeast coordinator is already in Imphal to hold meetings with party MLAs. BJP sources said it is likely that the decision to appoint a new CM to replace Biren Singh will be taken soon. Among the frontrunners for the position are Y. Khemchand Singh, a minister in the Biren Singh government; Thokchom Radheshyam Singh, former education minister and MLA from Heirok; Thongam Biswajit Singh, agriculture minister; and Th. Basanta Singh, education minister.
“Though there is no clarity yet, but it is unlikely that President’s Rule will be imposed,”a BJP source said.
Singh’s resignation on Sunday evening followed a swift visit to Delhi on Saturday night via a chartered flight, just a day before the now-cancelled state assembly session.
Sources said Singh was in a precarious position with his support base among own party MLAs shrinking. Several BJP MLAs from the state, including ministers in his government, were summoned to Delhi last week, before the Delhi election results on 8 February. They warned the party leadership that if no decision is taken to remove Singh, they would support any no-confidence motion moved by the opposition Congress in the assembly session.
The MLAs—including Y. Khemchand Singh and Thokchom Radheshyam Singh—did not get an audience with Union Home Minister Amit Shah but met Sambit Patra. They informed him that Singh had lost the trust of a majority of the party’s MLAs. The delegation returned to Imphal soon after.
The central leadership was aware that dissent was brewing for long within the BJP Manipur unit with many MLAs, including the Meitei MLAs in the Imphal Valley, wanting Singh’s removal, a BJP Meitei MLA told ThePrint from Imphal on condition of anonymity. The MLA was among those who were in Delhi last week.
“Multiple feedbacks from state BJP, RSS and security agencies in the state had also pointed to this fact, but the central leadership was biding its time. The impending no-confidence motion threat was the final trigger,” the MLA said, adding that winning Delhi with a good majority could also have been a factor in taking a quick decision now.
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Majority of BJP MLAs boycotted Biren’s meeting Saturday
On Saturday morning at around 11 am, Biren Singh had called a meeting of his party MLAs at his residence to discuss budget allocations ahead of the assembly session.
Over a dozen BJP MLAs, including ministers in his government, had boycotted the meeting that lasted till after 1 pm. A couple of hours later, Singh took a chartered flight to Delhi to meet the BJP top brass. Following his meeting with Amit Shah Sunday morning, Singh returned to Imphal along with Patra and other BJP leaders and resigned.
This was the second time in a week that Singh was summoned to Delhi.
On Wednesday, Singh arrived in Delhi with a group of loyalist MLAs but, after failing to secure a meeting with Shah, traveled to Prayagraj to attend the Mahakumbh. The central leadership was preoccupied, just two days ahead of the Delhi election results on 8 February.
BJP sources said the party leadership wanted to wait until the Delhi election results were announced before taking a decision. The BJP secured a decisive victory, winning 48 of the 70 seats, while the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party managed just 22.
A second BJP Meitei MLA told ThePrint, “The central leadership knew that if Biren Singh did not step down, the party would have to face an embarrassing situation in the assembly session. He did not have the support of even a dozen MLAs. This (removal of Biren Singh as CM) was the best way to avoid it.”
In the 60-member Manipur Assembly, BJP has 32 MLAs. These include the 7 Kuki MLAs who have openly said they don’t have faith in Biren Singh’s leadership. Five 5 Janata Dal (United) MLAs had joined the BJP after the 2022 elections, taking the party’s effective strength to 37.
Of the remaining MLAs, five belonged to the Naga People’s Front (NPF), a BJP ally. Seven other MLAs from Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) also supported the Biren Singh government. However, in November 2024, the 7 NPP MLAs withdrew their support. N Kayisii, one of the NPP MLA passed away in January 2025. Another BJP ally, the Kuki People’s Alliance, which has two MLAs, had already withdrawn support in May 2023 following the outbreak of ethnic violence in the state.
Among the three Independent MLAs, Nishikant Sapam and Haokholet Kipgen opposed Biren Singh, while J. Kumo Sha is with Singh.
“Biren Singh had only 8-9 MLAs with him,” a second Manipur BJP MLA who wished to not be named, told ThePrint.
Of the 32 BJP MLAs, 19, including Manipur Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, have openly revolted against Biren Singh. In October 2023, the MLAs had reportedly written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Biren Singh’s removal.
“The BJP is a divided house in Manipur today,” the second MLA said.
BJP’s unpopularity was growing
Over the past year, several BJP MLAs have repeatedly traveled to Delhi, seeking meetings with Modi and Shah to convey concerns about the growing unpopularity of both Biren Singh and the party itself.
“Wherever we were going, our constituents were openly telling us that they wouldn’t vote for us if Biren Singh was not removed. With assembly elections due in 2027, we were getting into a very difficult situation,” a third BJP MLA said.
The MLA added that people were fed up with the inability of the state and the Centre to control the violence that erupted every few months, the deteriorating law and order situation with insurgent groups moving around freely, and extortion.
“Normal life has come to a standstill here. Can you imagine any other state in the recent past which has been divided on ethnic lines?” the MLA asked.
Even the RSS had flagged concern over the situation in the state. In October 2023, the Sangh’s Manipur unit released a statement urging the central and the state governments to “sincerely” resolve the ongoing conflict at the earliest. “It is unfortunate that 19 months old violence in Manipur starting from 3 May, 2023, has remained unresolved,” the statement read.
The third BJP MLA said that the Centre was treading cautiously for long as there was a perception that if Singh is removed, the valley (Imphal), which is very volatile now, might flare up. “But there was no choice now. Biren Singh’s continuation as CM had become untenable…It was a question of BJP’s survival in the state,”he added.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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