New Delhi: The Janata Dal (United) dismissed its Manipur unit president, Ksh. Biren Singh, on Wednesday, quelled speculation about a strained relationship with its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party attributed the removal to indiscipline and reaffirmed its continued support for the BJP-led government in Manipur and nationally.
JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan clarified that the party remains committed to the BJP-led NDA alliance. He dismissed rumours of a rift as “misleading and baseless” and emphasised the party’s ongoing support in Manipur and throughout the country. “This is misleading and baseless and the party has taken cognizance of it and the party’s Manipur unit president has been relieved from his post. We have supported the NDA and our support to the NDA government in Manipur will continue,” He said.
Ranjan explained that the Manipur unit acted without consulting the central leadership, leading to disciplinary action against Ksh. Biren Singh. “The Manipur unit did not communicate with the central leadership, they were not taken into confidence. He (Manipur JDU chief) himself wrote the letter,” he added.
The action followed Ksh. Biren Singh’s claim that the JD(U) had withdrawn support from the BJP-led Manipur government and informed Governor Anusuiya Uikey of the decision. He also stated that the party’s sole MLA in the state, Md Abdul Nasir, would join the opposition benches.
In his letter to the Governor, Ksh. Biren Singh cited the JD(U)’s alignment with the INDIA bloc as the reason for withdrawing support, stating that the Speaker had already seated Md Abdul Nasir with the opposition in the last Assembly session. “After JD (U) became part of India Bloc, support to the BJP led government was withdrawn by JD(U)… as such, seating arrangement of the lone MLA of JD(U) in Manipur Md Abdul Nasir is made in the opposition bench in the last session of the Assembly by the Speaker,” Singh said in a letter to the governor.
