Shillong, Nov 18: The National People’s Party (NPP) has officially withdrawn its support from the BJP-led government in Manipur under Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
The NPP chief and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma answering to the query as to why it took one and a half year to take this decision, said, “We were very hopeful that we would see the situation improve. As efforts were made from both the state and central government’s sides, we were hopeful that normalcy would return.”
Talking about the lack of trust as a key issue, he added, “I have been discussing with a number of leaders from the Centre, sharing with them the need for trust-building measures to complement enforcement efforts.”
Despite withdrawing support from the Biren Singh-led government, Sangma clarified that the move would not affect the NPP’s relations with the NDA bloc at the Centre or the MDA government in Meghalaya. “This decision is specific to the situation in Manipur and does not impact our alliance at the national or state level,” he asserted.
This comes amid mounting criticism of the Manipur government’s handling of ethnic violence and its failure to bring about peace in the state.