Embattled Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh resigned on Sunday evening within two hours of returning from Delhi after meeting the central BJP leadership, having earlier resisted calls for his head for 21 months since the ethnic conflict in the state began.

His departure, 648 days into the unrest, came amid growing opposition to his continuation even among leaders of the state’s ruling BJP, and the state Congress’s decision to move a no-confidence motion during the Assembly session that was to start from Monday. (Late in the day, the governor scrapped the Assembly session.)

Biren has been widely castigated over his mishandling of the strife between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos that erupted on May 3, 2023, and has left at least 260 people dead and over 60,000 displaced.

Kuki-Zo bodies have accused him of “partisan complicity” in the violence on the strength of an audiotape that the Supreme Court is examining, a development that put more pressure on the chief minister.

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, claimed partial credit for the Congress for Biren’s exit while accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of protecting him for too long.

“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,” Rahul said in a post 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.

“But the most urgent priority is to restore peace in the state, and work to heal the wounds of the people of Manipur. PM Modi must visit Manipur at once, listen to the people and finally explain his plan to bring back normalcy.”

The 1961-born Biren’s decision to call time on his uninterrupted but chequered run as chief minister since 2017 came after he returned to Imphal from Delhi with BJP national coordinator Sambit Patra on a chartered flight on Sunday afternoon. In the capital, he had met Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda.

Biren had visited Delhi twice this week: on Wednesday and later on Saturday, soon after a meeting of ruling coalition MLAs, held to discuss issues related to the upcoming Assembly session, showcased his loosening grip on his flock.

Only 22 MLAs, including Biren, attended the meeting. This was five fewer than the attendance at a meeting he had called in November to discuss the security situation, sources said.

They added that a group of BJP legislators opposed to Biren met and held parleys in an Imphal hotel on Sunday. Assembly Speaker Th Satyabrata Singh is said to be leading this group that wants to unseat Biren.

Biren could not meet Shah or Nadda on Wednesday, which necessitated Saturday’s trip, sources said. They underlined that the BJP and its allies still enjoyed a clear majority in the 60-member House and that was unlikely to change.

By early evening, a chief minister who had in his first term survived three no-trust motions despite lacking the numbers knew his time was up.

Biren arrived at the Raj Bhavan around 6pm, accompanied by a few ministers and MLAs and the state BJP president, to submit his resignation to governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla.

The last time Biren had declared an intent to resign was in June 2023, weeks after the unrest broke out, when a large crowd ostensibly forced him to change his mind by blocking the road to the Raj Bhavan.

On Sunday, everything went off smoothly. Security had been tightened in Imphal by afternoon. Barricades and the numbers of security personnel went up in the Kangla Fort area, the state BJP headquarters and the Raj Bhavan, among other places, sources said.

A two-paragraph statement from the Raj Bhavan late in the evening said Biren had submitted his resignation and the governor had accepted it along with the resignations of his ministers. It said the governor had “asked him to continue in office till alternative arrangements are made”.

In his resignation letter, Biren sought the Centre’s continued support in five areas: maintaining Manipur’s territorial integrity; a crackdown on border infiltrators complete with a policy for the deportation of illegal immigrants; continuation of the fight against drugs and narco-terrorism; continuation of the stringent regulations on the Free Movement Regime (with Myanmar); and time-bound border fencing (with Myanmar).

The Kuki-Zos have been steadfast in their demand for a separate administration since the strife began, saying they have lost faith in thestate administration.

The ground situation is such that neither the Meiteis nor the Kuki-zos can enter each other’s areas because of safety reasons despite the heavy deployment ofcentral forces.

In a post on X, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “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.”

He added: “The CM’s resignation was 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.”

State BJP president Sharda Devi said Biren had resigned “for Manipur’s integrity, for the people of Manipur”.