Manipur Violence: CM Biren Singh Holds 2 Cabinet Meets in Less Than 24 Hours, Meets Governor Acharya

The recent spate of violence in Manipur that has further escalated since September 1 with miscreants using drones and rockets killing at least 12 people so far, has prompted Chief Minister N Biren Singh to hold two Cabinet meetings in less than 24 hours yesterday and today. At the end of the crucial Cabinet meeting today evening that was attended by all the Manipur Cabinet ministers, BJP MLAs and MLAs of the alliance parties, CM Singh met Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya at the Governor’s House this evening.

The meeting between the CM and the Governor is said to have gone on for 40 minutes. Sources told Northeast Live that CM Singh alomgwith hhis Cabinet colleagues will once again meet Governor Acharya tomorrow at 11 AM.

Earlier, there was a lot of speculation that CM Singh might request the Governor to place the Assembly in suspended animation.

The norm is that Cabinet meetings are attended by Cabinet ministers only, but because of the situation in the state, the Cabinet meetings were attended by the legislators too. The Kuki MLAs who have been out of the state since violence broke out in May 3, 2023 were not present at the meeting as most of them continue to live outside the state.

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has issued a 5-day ultimatum to the security forces to address the crisis, failing which “drastic steps will be taken by the people to protect themselves and the indigenous population, including the expulsion of central forces from Manipur.”
In response to the rapidly escalating violence, COCOMI has declared a state of public emergency in Manipur, effective immediately.

The declaration comes after months of violence, particularly the recent drone and missile attacks targeting civilians, which have resulted in multiple casualties.