After 2-hour meeting with Shah and Nadda, Biren Singh, who defied calls for his resignation for 21 months, steps down

Twenty-one months since the start of the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, the state’s embattled Chief Minister N Biren Singh submitted his resignation to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla in Imphal on Sunday evening.Singh had left Imphal for Delhi – the second such trip to the national capital this week – on Saturday evening. He made this trip without any of his cabinet colleagues. According to sources, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held an almost two-hour meeting on Sunday, where BJP national president J P Nadda was also present. Singh flew back to Imphal on Sunday afternoon along with the BJP’s Northeast Coordinator Sambit Patra.
On Sunday evening, Singh, Patra and other senior Manipur BJP leaders, including cabinet ministers Th Biswajit Singh, Sapam Ranjan Singh, Govindas Konthoujam and Th Basanta Singh, met Governor Ajau Kumar Bhalla, where Singh submitted his resignation.His resignation comes amidst a renewed political churn in Manipur ahead of the assembly session, which is scheduled to begin on Monday.