BJP ally NPP withdraws support from Biren Singh government in Manipur amid unrest

Image Source : PTI National People's Party (NPP) leader Conrad Sangma and Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh

Manipur violence: Conrad Sangma’s National People's Party (NPP), an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), withdrew support from the Biren Singh government in Manipur amid a fresh round of violence in the northeastern state. The Conrad Sangma-led NPP has 7 MLAs in the Manipur Assembly. However, the withdrawal of support will not have any impact on the survival of the Biren Singh government as the BJP has a majority on its own in the Assembly. The party has 37 members in the 60-member strong Assembly of Manipur.

Amit Shah reviews the security situation in Manipur

In another development, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday reviewed the security situation in Manipur and directed top officials to take all possible steps to ensure peace in the Northeastern state. Shah held the meeting soon after he returned from Maharashtra after cancelling his election rallies there.

The home minister reviewed the situation in Manipur with top security officials and directed them to take all possible steps to ensure peace, the sources said.

Shah is expected to hold another detailed meeting with top officers on Monday and take further steps, they said.

The move came as the situation in Manipur, which has been reeling from ethnic strife since May last year, continued to be volatile following protests and violence after the recovery of bodies of women and children.

Irate mobs set ablaze the residences of three more BJP legislators, one of whom is a senior minister, and a Congress MLA in various districts of Imphal Valley even as security forces foiled an attempt to storm the ancestral residence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, officials said.

Fresh violence triggers protests in Manipur

In the last couple of days, the violence-hit state saw a revival of ethnic clashes, prompting the authorities to impose curfew and ban the internet. The restrictions followed by the killing of three women and three children by militants in Jiribam district, attacked the residences of three state ministers and six MLAs earlier on Saturday.

Enraged people torched the houses of PWD Minister Govindas Konthoujam at Ningthoukhong, Hiyanglam's BJP MLA Y Radheshyam at Langmeidong Bazar, Wangjing Tentha's BJP MLA Paonam Brojen in Thoubal district and Khundrakpam's Congress MLA Th Lokeshwar in Imphal East district, the officials said.

The legislators and their family members were not at home when the mob stormed their residential compounds, vandalised properties and set the houses on fire, police said, adding the houses were partially burnt in the incidents.

The Manipur Police on November 11 claimed 10 suspected militants were killed in a fierce gunfight with security forces after insurgents in camouflage uniforms and armed with sophisticated weapons fired indiscriminately at Borobekra Police Station and an adjacent CRPF camp at Jakuradhor in Jiribam district.

Hours later, suspected militants allegedly abducted six civilians, including women and children, from the same district, police had claimed. On Saturday, the Union home ministry said that all security forces deployed in Manipur have been directed to take necessary steps to restore order and peace in the state where the situation remained "fragile" in the past few days.