In this episode of 'Editorial', HW News' Managing Editor Mr. Sujit Nair discusses about the resignation tendered by N. Biren Singh from the post of the Chief Minister of Manipur. Mr. Nair points out 5 possibilities on why Mr. Biren Singh would've resigned from his position.
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[00:00:00] Namaskar Welcome to another episode of editorial Biren Singh rendered his resignation on the 9th of February that is on Sunday Why? Why did he render his resignation all of a sudden? 9th of February? People were asking his resignation from 2023 through 2024 he never bothered to resign but 9th of February he resigned
[00:00:29] Why? Let's discuss that, let's talk, let's get right into the show Now, why did Biren Singh resign? You see Biren Singh, I thought his administration flaw caused Manipur to burn, burn for almost one and a half years
[00:00:59] And all this while, a lot of people, including Hyatt Struly, would constantly say, why is he not resigning? We would constantly ask that question, we would ask that to the Prime Minister, we would ask that to the Home Minister
[00:01:17] As to why is Biren Singh continuing? But there were no answers and there was no indication that he is either going to be sacked or there was no real indication that he was going to resign On 9th of February, he resigned Now I am going to talk to you about 5 reasons why we think Biren Singh resigned
[00:01:41] And reason number 1 is the fact that on 7th of February, the Manipur Congress had called for a no confidence motion on the 10th of February, that is Monday, yesterday They had called for a no confidence motion and the chances were, the chances were that that no confidence motion would have seen Biren Singh out
[00:02:10] So Biren Singh resigned on the 9th because he possibly didn't want to face a no confidence motion Which would have actually ensured that he was unceremoniously humiliated and thrown out of his chair He didn't want that to happen, so he resigned That is reason number 1 That is what we believe, that is what our point of view is Reason number 2 is Supreme Court and Biren Singh tapes
[00:02:43] Now there is a tape that is alleged to be the voice of Biren Singh and what he said And this hearing of for the tapes and for what Biren Singh said was going to start on the 24th of March That is what the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India had decided 24th of March We will discuss this particular issue in depth
[00:03:10] So we will keep point 2 aside for some time Let us go into point 3 Point 3 Point 3 is dissent among BJP workers BJP workers, BJP MLA's were not happy with Biren Singh And BJP workers and BJP MLA said Baba, it is not happening This is not happening, this Chief Ministry is not working This is what BJP MLA said In fact, one of the BJP MLA's said that for the last 2 years
[00:03:39] Neither the state leadership nor the centre has come up with a roadmap for peace And they are just diverting attention by saying that we will seal the border We will implement the NRC or launch a war on drugs But the main issue is the restoration of peace and normalcy We are saying that if there is no change in this before the assembly session begins Something big and unprecedented will happen during the session
[00:04:08] Who said this? Not an outsider Who said this? Not an opposition guy Who said this? Not Congress This was said by BJP MLA BJP MLA Now you see the position Mr. Biren Singh was in? Now you see the position Mr. Biren Singh was in? Now you understand when I said that Biren Singh if he stands for a no confidence motion What is going to happen to him? So this is one I will give you one more statement One more, another BJP MLA said More than 2 thirds of BJP MLA's are not happy with the current leadership
[00:04:38] So everyone is going to make some move in the interest of the public and the state The turmoil is intolerable We cannot wait any more BJP MLA So like I said Point number 1 No confidence motion Point number 2 The Supreme Court tapes which we are going to come back to Point number 3 BJP MLA's themselves were not happy with Biren Singh Now let's get to point number 4 And that obviously is the obvious That is the allies Withdrew support
[00:05:07] The allies on November 17th itself 7 MLA's of the National People's Party Withdrew support to the Biren Singh led government Citing the volatile situation in the state and the failure of the government machinery to resolve the crisis So NPPE their biggest ally They withdrew support This was November Not now 2 months back 3 months back They withdrew support
[00:05:36] So the fact remains that The chances like I said before And I repeat myself The chances of Biren Singh seeing through this no confidence motion Was almost zirch The question though The question though I ask myself Is why did the Manipur Congress Take so much time To initiate this no confidence motion Why wasn't this done before?
[00:06:07] The situation was something similar for quite some time Like yeah From November onwards There were a lot of dissents So why was Congress Manipur quiet? Why was the opposition in Manipur quiet? I am surprised But anyway That is my point number 4 Now let us come to the Supreme Court part of it What is the Supreme Court tapes?
[00:06:32] It is very well explained by my colleague Akanksha Yadav She has done a very good job of explaining it But let us discuss it once again What is the Supreme Court tapes actually? What is the Supreme Court tapes? Now the Supreme Court tapes It alleges that Biren Singh is heard instructing the Maithiic groups to be allowed to seize state-owned weapons
[00:07:01] And assuring that he would prevent the arrest The recordings first released on the 7th and 20th August 2024 This recording was analyzed by Truth Labs Using audio samples of Biren Singh's public speeches and interviews Now Truth Lab by far is known to be a very credible laboratory For voice analysis and all of that
[00:07:29] Now I don't endorse them nor do I say because they said it is right and all that Or some neighbors now But yeah I mean Normally, generally Truth, Truth Lab is a credible organization Truth Lab went out and analyzed it And they said that there is a 93% match There is a 93% match Allegedly what the voice of Mr. Biren Singh was in that tape
[00:07:54] And his voice when it was compared to various interviews he gave and various rallies he made So the voice was compared and the voice is 93% matching Now Manipur government While we talk about the leaked plates Let me also tell you Manipur government has dismissed the recording as doctored Stating that the police were conducting an investigation In an official release in August last year The government said that this doctored audio is a malicious attempt by certain sections to incite communal violence
[00:08:24] Or to derail the peace process that has been initiated at multiple levels This is what the Manipur government said when they were asked about the audio tapes So the story like I said before Audio tapes It is heard that Biren Singh Allegedly Let me repeat that Allegedly Biren Singh says that Baba listen You go state owned weaponry and now there is a weapons
[00:08:54] You will not be arrested, Mahiti community, don't worry It is allegedly heard And of course Manipur government says he is abducted He has malicious attempt, he is all wrong Okay, there is a laboratory called Truth Labs Which says Baba 93% chances based on his voice that we got Based on voice that we took from interviews Based on voice that we took from rallies If we match all that, we found that there is a 93% chance that the voice belongs to him This is the status
[00:09:20] Now let us come to the Supreme Court part of it The Supreme Court On the 24th of March Has asked a report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory They have asked the Central Forensic Science Laboratory Which is a government body To check and get back to them As to whether this voice matches Now what Central Laboratory says one doesn't know
[00:09:50] But as of like I told you Truth Laboratory They feel there is a 93% match So long and short is Things don't look so good for Biren Singh And the chances are Biren Singh resigned Because of that Truth Laboratory is not government-endorsed Or government laboratory So it can't say that you can't say that Truth Laboratory said so yeah, done Court will say done
[00:10:19] But the situation currently Is not very favourable For Biren Singh It is definitely not very favourable for Biren Singh Why? Because forget about others His own BJP colleagues His own MLA's are against him His own MLA's are against him And his MLA's say that He, majority of the MLA's in Manipur BJP MLA's are not for him So this is the status This is the status
[00:10:49] Biren Singh has resigned Not, I don't think he has resigned Because of remorse Or I don't think he has resigned Because he takes the responsibility I don't think he has resigned Because he is He is sad about what happened I don't think, I don't think My view, Biren Singh resigned Because he knew he would have been thrown out otherwise Thrown out by the no-confidence motion That the Congress opposition had called for I think Biren Singh resigned
[00:11:17] Because even the party would have put pressure Saying that the Supreme Court has now taken up this case 24th there could be a hearing And things may not go your way Because the audio tape that got leaked Well, that audio tape is not necessarily a good news For Biren Singh and his government This is the point that I wanted to make Till I see you next time That's tomorrow at 10
[00:11:48] Namaskar