JD-U row exposes national parties' apathy to state
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 24, 2025 -
THE sacking of Janata Dai-United (JD-U) Manipur president Kshetrimayum Biren Singh hours after he declared withdrawal of the political organisation from the BJP-led government in the state indicates either lack of understanding between the party's state and national leaders or the latter ringing out a strong message that the central leaderships must be consulted with before any decision is taken that could strain the relationship among the NDA partners.
No doubt, ever since the Kuki-Meetei clash broke out in May 2023 there has been discord within the rank and file of political organisations which are allies of the N Biren-led government or lending support to the coalition government.
The political rumbling, however, has been primary centred on the demand for replacement of the incumbent chief minister.
Notably, apart from insisting that the chief minister should step down on moral ground, for his failure to bring solution to the nearly two-year old crisis, consensus seems to elude the dissidents over who should take over the rein of power from N Biren, consequently resulting in the voice of dissent tending to fade away with the passage of time.
For instance, in the initial months after the outbreak of the violence, a joint letter of BJP's Manipur legislators addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi had demanded the removal of N Biren amid outcries from civil society organisations that lack of harmony among legislators of the ruling parties and leaders of their allies is one of the factors for the humanitarian crisis in the state continuing to elude solution, regardless of the central leaders making efforts to keep the unrest situation under control.
To be specific, 19 BJP MLAs of Manipur had sent a letter to Prime Minister Modi stressing the urgent need for replacing chief minister N Biren Singh, a demand similar to that being raised by Kuki legislators and civil bodies whenever there is escalation of tension and violence between the two warring communities.
Taking into account disgruntlement even within the BJP, state unit of the JD-U deciding to part ways with the BJP-NPF government was on expected lines for political organisations associated with the coalition government seem to be wary about the BJP losing ground in the trouble-torn state owing to perceived apathy by the BJP national leaders.
While political organisations and leaders averse to N Biren remaining in the seat of power belief that the only way to end the unrest in the state is to hand over the responsibility of helming the state's affair to someone else, civil societies are pinning hope that the security forces rushed into the state take firm action against the aggressors.
However, in the context of sharp differences between the JD-U state and central leaders, the sacking of the state chief underscores that the party's national leaders are either naive or intentionally disregarding the general sentiment of the state's denizens and according importance to dynamics of national politics.
Unlike the regional parties which prioritise local issues and take prompt decisions as per the wish of the people, the discord between the state and national leaders of the JD-U also make it crystal clear that national parties are not concerned with suffering of the people in a politically insignificant state like Manipur.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.