Biren Singh, violence-marred BJP-ruled Manipur's CM, resigns
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Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, Image courtesy: PTI
Imphal: Biren Singh, the Chief Minister of BJP ruling the torn state of Manipur, resigned on Sunday. He turned in his resignation letter, which said that it was an honour for him to serve the people of the northeastern state, which has been marred by ethnic violence which broke out nearly two years ago. Singh was accompanied by state BJP president A Sharda, BJP's North East Manipur in-charge Sambit Patra, along with at least 19 MLAs when he handed over the letter to governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the Hindustan Times reported.
On the day of his resignation, unidentified armed men looted arms from the India Reserve Battalion outpost in Manipur's Thoubal district. PTI reported that the intruders came in vehicles and looted arms in the Kakmayai area on Saturday night. They left with at least six SLRs and three AK rifles from the IRB and Manipur Rifles personnel.
Singh’s resignation letter read, “I am extremely grateful to the Central government for timely actions, interventions, developmental work and implementation of various projects for safeguarding the interest of every single Manipuri.”
His resignation comes a day after his assurance that his government had been making all efforts to restore peace in the burning state.
The state government has been making all possible efforts to restore peace and to ensure that people live together peacefully as before," PTI quoted him.
Since the breakout of ethnic violence in the state in May 2023, more than 250 people have been killed, and thousands have become homeless.
On December 31, Biren Singh apologized for the deadly violence happening in the state. He said that he wanted to say sorry to the people for what was happening since the violence broke out in 2023.