Manipur CM meets Amit Shah in Delhi amid Kuki disquiet in state

May 15 : Days after clashes erupted across Manipur between the state's majority Meitei community and the Kuki-Zomi tribes, leading to at least 60 deaths, Chief Minister N Biren Singh arrived in the national capital along with four of his senior-most ministers and met Union Home Minister Amit Shah Sunday evening. Singh and his ministers discussed the law and order situation in Manipur with Shah, sources said. The Chief Minister was accompanied by state ministers Govindas Konthoujam, Th. Biswajit Singh, Yumnam Khemchand Singh and Basanta Kumar, along with Manipur BJP chief A Sharda Devi and Rajya Sabha MP Sanajaoba Leishemba, the titular king of Manipur. Sources said the BJP central leadership summoned Singh to Delhi, taking into consideration the political developments in the aftermath of the clashes. With tension still simmering between the two communities in the state, the BJP leadership is treading cautiously in handling the situation, they said. Although the demands for a leadership change are getting louder, especially from the Kuki MLAs and the community, the party leadership has not yet decided on the matter. “The central leadership is not at all happy with the developments in the state and the way the Chief Minister handled it. But the party leadership is not in favour of a sudden reaction to the demand (for a change of guard),” said a source. “The party leadership is also conscious of its current position in the state. It realises that the Chief Minister is solidly backed by the Meitei community and any move to disturb him would have serious consequences. At the same time, it cannot ignore the calls from the Kuki side,” said the source. According to sources, Singh in fact may have got a new lease of life with the recent developments as the Meitei community has extended its support to him. Shah's meeting with the Chief Minister comes close on the heels of the resurgence of a demand for a separate Kuki administration by all 10 MLAs from the community in the ruling side. They include two ministers – Letpao Haokip and Nemcha Kipgen. Incidentally, BJP MLA Vunzagin Valte, advisor to the Chief Minister, who suffered serious injuries after he was attacked by a mob, is also one of the signatories of the demand for a separate administration for Kukis. The demand for separate administration, which had quietened down following peace negotiations between Kuki-Zomi insurgent groups and the government, has resurfaced after the clashes, with the Kuki tribes saying they no longer felt safe in Manipur, and that the state administration failed to protect them. Apart from this, the violence in Manipur also led to questions from the Opposition over the BJP's push for a double-engine government in Karnataka, and also hurt its attempts to woo the Christian community in states such as Kerala, where it wants to expand its electoral presence. With a number of churches and Christian institutions coming under attack in Manipur during the recent violence, the church leadership has expressed unhappiness publicly over the handling of the situation. The Kukis, predominantly Christians, had extended their support to the BJP in the last Assembly election. The Kuki MLAs, along with a handful of dissenting Meitei MLAs, have been demanding a change in leadership in the state.