After N Biren Singh stepped down as the chief minister of Manipur on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi said the former's resignation was a result of "mounting public pressure", "SC investigation" and the no-confidence motion that the Congress planned to carry out against the 64-year-old.

In addition, the leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha claimed that Singh "instigated division in Manipur" for "nearly two years".

"For nearly two years, BJP's CM Biren Singh instigated division in Manipur. PM Modi allowed him to continue despite the violence, loss of life, and the destruction of the idea of India in Manipur," Gandhi wrote on X.

"The resignation of CM Biren Singh shows that mounting public pressure, the SC investigation and the no-confidence motion by the Congress have forced a reckoning," he added.Gandhi called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "visit Manipur at once" as "the most urgent priority is to restore peace in the state".

"PM Modi must visit Manipur at once, listen to the people and finally explain his plan to bring back normalcy," Rahul concluded.

Congress general secretary in-charge Jairam Ramesh on the other hand echoed Rahul Gandhi.

"The Congress was all set to move a no-confidence motion against the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers in the Manipur Assembly tomorrow [Monday]," he wrote on X.

"Sensing the climate, the Manipur CM has just resigned. This was a demand that the Congress has been making since early May 2023, when Manipur erupted," added Ramesh.

Ramesh found Singh's resignation "belated"."The people of Manipur now await a visit by our Frequent Flier PM who is off to France and the USA now - and who has found neither the time nor the inclination to go to Manipur these past twenty months," he concluded.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said Singh's resignation was like "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted".

"It is painful to say that for 21 months, the BJP ignited a fire in Manipur and left the people, across communities to fend for themselves," wrote Kharge on X.

He highlighted that at least 258 people had died in Manipur and more than 60,000 people were displaced.

Kharge called Prime Minister Narendra Modi "the real culprit of this disdain and apathy". "He [Modi] has forgotten that Manipur is a part of India," Kharge added.

In his resignation letter, Singh said it was "an honour to serve the people of Manipur thus far". "I am extremely grateful to the central government for its actions, interventions, developmental work, and implementation of various projects for safeguarding the interests of every single Manipuri," he added.