Arham Jain
On February 9th, 2025, the former CM of Manipur, the Bharatiya Janata Party led leader, N Biren Singh resigned from his position. The series of incidents forced the Governor of the state, Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla, to move an application to the President of India which resulted in the enforcing of the Presidential Rule in the state under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution.
The Article 365 of the Indian Constitution deals with the provision that came into effect in cases of failure of constitutional machinery in State. The Article clearly states “If the President, on receipt of report from the Governor of the State or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, the President may by Proclamation…”. Upholding the principles laid down in the Constitution and guaranteeing the state’s government continuity are the goals of the article. During a state emergency, this article essentially transfers all state government powers to the federal government and state legislature functions to parliament. The High Court of the State’s continuing duties are the only exception to this rule.
The President Rule was put into effect on Thursday, February 13, 2025, and was announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs at 7:16 PM in an official gazette. It stated that the government and the Manipur Assembly would be suspended until it was put into effect, giving all political parties time to figure out how to form a government.
The state of Manipur has been devastated by ethnic conflict between the Kuki-Zo-Hmar and Meitei populations over the past two years. The chaos that followed disputes began when the Manipur High Court changed its ruling in February 2024 to remove the Meits from the State’s list of Scheduled Tribes, in dismissal of the March 2023 High Court order that included the Meiteis in the State’s list of Scheduled Tribes.
With the Opposition Congress having already declared its intention to submit a no-confidence vote against the BJP administration in the Assembly session that was scheduled to start on Monday, Biren Singh’s resignation comes amid an upsurge of political activity. But hours after Biren Singh resigned, the governor declared the meeting “null and void.”
The Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi also gave his statement on the present issue stating “has he (Prime Minister) made up his mind to visit the place and explaining the India and the citizens of the Manipur about his intention and plan for securing peace and tranquillity in the state”.