Imposition of President’s Rule Admission of BJP’s Inability to Govern Manipur: Rahul

IMPHAL:
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur is a belated admission by the BJP of their complete inability to govern in Manipur.

Rahul Gandhi in a post on X, said: “Now, PM Modi can no longer deny his direct responsibility for Manipur. Has he finally made up his mind to visit the state, and explain to the people of Manipur and India his plan to restore peace and normalcy?”

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh in a separate post on the X said: “On the 10th of February, the Congress was bringing a no-confidence motion. They knew the chief minister had lost the confidence of his own BJP and NDA colleagues.”

Consequently, the Chief Minister was forced to resign on February 9, said Ramesh, also a member of Parliament.

He said that the requirement to convene the next session within six months of the previous one was violated on February 12.

“And today, they’ve announced the President’s Rule. We will consult our party colleagues and hold internal meetings to discuss whether to demand midterm polls in Manipur. However, our immediate demand is for the Prime Minister to visit Manipur,” the Rajya Sabha member said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), an apex body of Kuki-Zo tribals in Manipur supported the imposition of President’s rule in the trouble-torn state.

ITLF spokesman Ginza Vualzong said that the president’s rule is more preferable than a change of Chief Minister.

“The Kuki-Zo do not trust Meitei anymore, so a new Meitei Chief Minister is still far from comforting. President’s Rule will give a ray of hope to the Kuki-Zo, and we believe that it will be one step closer to our political solution,” Vualzong said.

He said: “With the President’s Rule, I believe the groundwork to end violence will begin, which will pave the way for a conducive environment for political dialogue.”

The ITLF, Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), several other organisations of Kuki-Zo tribals, ten tribals MLAs belonging to Kuki-Zo community since the ethnic violence broke out have been demanding a separate administrations or a Union Territory for the tribals in Manipur.