CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on February 14

THE imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur underlines the utter bankruptcy of the BJP double engine government under whose rule the state has been in violent turmoil for two years. President’s Rule has been imposed not in the interests of Manipur but to buy time to settle the internal conflicts within the ruling coalition. The chief minister, the main culprit, who was backed all along by the BJP-RSS was forced to resign because his partisan role was being examined by a court where evidence was presented of his sectarian partisan role  which left him with no choice but to quit.

In all these developments, the central leadership of the ruling party and the central government refused to take the required action to alleviate the deep suffering inflicted on the people of Manipur symbolised by the prime minister’s callous refusal to even visit the troubled state. This exposes the sectarian approach of the ruling party and the state and central government it heads, which put its own political interests above that of the state and its people.

President’s Rule is no solution. However, now the central government cannot escape its responsibility. It must immediately initiate measures to heal the deep divisions through negotiations with representatives of different communities, taking all political parties into confidence to arrive at just solutions to bring normalcy, peace and harmony while protecting the democratic rights of the people of the state, including the holding of elections within a time framework.