Imphal, June 29: The Manipur Democratic Alliance (MDA) has stepped up pressure on the Centre to end President’s Rule and reinstate a popular government.
At a press conference held Sunday at the MDA office in Babupara in Imphal, alliance convenor M. Tombi Singh revealed that the group had submitted a detailed memorandum to key national figures including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat seeking intervention and restoration of democratic governance in the state.
Also read | BJP MLAs Meet in Imphal Push for Restoration of Popular Government
“The President’s Rule has not brought any progress or peace,” Tombi said. “The people of Manipur are demanding the return of an elected government.”
Manipur has been under central rule since February 13, following the resignation of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh amid mounting political pressure and prolonged violence.
The MDA leader pointed to the plight of thousands of internally displaced persons still stuck in relief camps more than a year after ethnic violence erupted on May 3, 2023. “Neither the ruling nor opposition legislators have been able to help these people return to their homes,” he said.
Tombi went further to blame the roots of the current crisis on the Congress government of 2005. He alleged that bilateral talks initiated with Kuki militants based in Myanmar were the beginning of the trouble. By 2008, the talks became tripartite, and during that period, over 1,000 villages in hill areas were officially recognised, many of which, he alleged, were later settled by illegal immigrants who took up poppy cultivation.
Also read | Former Manipur CM Flags ‘Discrepancy’ Between Gazette and Assembly Order, Seeks Governor’s Intervention
He defended the MDA’s crackdown on illegal activities and drug trafficking, accusing the Congress of politicising the issue instead of accepting responsibility. “The Congress is blaming us now, but it was their policies that laid the foundation for this crisis,” Tombi asserted.
(Newmai News Network)