Political Punchline

After N Biren Singh resigned from the post of Manipur’s Chief Minister on 9 February 2025, the President’s Rule was imposed in Manipur on the evening of 13 February 2025. This is the eleventh time the President’s Rule has been imposed in the state. However, the state assembly has been kept in suspended animation, meaning it can be revived when the political unrest subsides. His resignation comes amid the violence that has ripped the state for almost two years now. It may be observed that the Bharatiya Janata Party has faced revolts from its legislators. This was sharpened when the violence broke out between the Meiteis and Kukis on 3 May 2023, with ten of the party’s legislators belonging to Kuki, Zomi and Hmar groups demanding separate administrative arrangements out of Manipur.  The ten legislators labelled the N Biren Singh-led BJP government as the ‘Meitei government’, saying that he was siding with the Meiteis during the violence. In another sense, the BJP, as the majority par...