A day after pulling support from the BJP government in Manipur due to recent violence, National People's Party (NPP) president and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma criticised Manipur's Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Sangma clarified that the NPP had only withdrawn support from Singh's government, not the NDA. He also mentioned that the party might reconsider its decision if there is a change in leadership in Manipur.

The BJP has 37 seats in the Manipur Assembly, which has 60 members. Since it is a part of the NDA, the seven-member NPP had previously provided outside support to the Biren Singh government. Even though the NPP has now withdrawn its support, it doesn't threaten the government's stability. Instead, this move highlights the NPP's dissatisfaction with the situation in Manipur. The NPP has also criticised the Chief Minister before. According to a statement released today, Sangma stated that the NPP had remained supportive of the state government and had hoped that things in Manipur would improve.

"In the last one week, the situation has gone bad. We had been discussing the situation with central BJP leaders. We have suggested that trust needs to be built, that it is because of trust deficit that overall efforts to bring peace are not reaching their logical conclusion. No trust-building efforts were undertaken," said Sangma. "We strongly felt that there is no confidence of our party in the current leadership of Biren Singh ji. Violence is not the way to bring about a solution, but sentiments are (running) high. We urge the Centre to take a serious note of what is happening in Manipur now," the NPP chief added.

Mr. Sangma promised that, as the second largest party in the Manipur Assembly, the NPP would work together to restore peace. "We have withdrawn the support from the Biren Singh-led government, not from NDA. If there is a leadership change and positive impact of that change, we might think of supporting again," he said. Yesterday, the NPP declared that the government of Biren Singh had "completely failed to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy". It stated, "Keeping the current situation in mind, the National People's Party has decided to withdraw its support to the Biren Singh government in the state of Manipur, with immediate effect," in a letter to Union Minister and party president JP Nadda.

At least 19 people have been killed in the recent violence in Manipur's Jiribam district this month. Curfew has been imposed in several parts of the state, which has been facing ethnic clashes since last year. The Union Home Ministry has stated that all security forces in the area have been instructed to take action to restore peace.