Did Union Minister Ranjan Singh refuse additional security at his Imphal house before it was set on fire?

On June 15, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Education Rajkumar Ranjan Singh’s house in Manipur’s capital Imphal was set on fire, a day after state Cabinet Minister Nemcha Kipgen’s house, also located in Imphal, met similar fate. Following this incident, the Union minister called the law and order situation in Manipur a “total failure” and said the state government had failed to maintain it. Ranjan Singh is the BJP MP representing Inner Manipur in Lok Sabha. His party is in power in the state and the Manipur government is headed by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh.

While Biren Singh has not yet reacted to the criticism by his party colleague in the Union government, a source close to the state government has revealed that Ranjan Singh had declined the deployment of 20 additional CRPF personnel at his residence in Imphal, days before his house was set ablaze. “Why did he refuse this security arrangement? The DGP had sent these guards but he did not want,” says the source.

Several attempts to contact Ranjan Singh did not yield any result. When his personal secretary was contacted he also did not respond, saying that the minister was in a meeting. However, a source close to the minister, on condition of anonymity, first refuted this claim that the DGP had sent any communication offering to send additional CRPF guards. “Even if he had sent, we could not have accepted this help. There is a strong resentment among common citizens against Central forces. A popular leader could not have been seen taking help of Central forces when the state is burning,” says the source. 

Interestingly, that political leaders could face public ire was indicated even in a meeting between some Manipur legislators and Union Home Minister Amit Shah held in Guwahati on the intervening night of May 25 and May 26. It was an all-party team comprising 10 BJP MLAs and two MLAs each from the National People’s Party (NPP) MLAs and the Naga People's Front (NPF). The BJP MLAs told the Union Home Minister that they were under tremendous pressure to resign from their positions as legislators as the Meitei people in their respective constituencies felt betrayed. The Meitei people are upset with the slow pace of action by the Union government against SoO groups, alleged the MLAs. As both governments—the Centre and the state— belong to the BJP, the people feel that local BJP legislators must resign as they had failed to convince the Central government to protect the interest of the Meiteis. 

During the meeting, the MLAs pointed out how the houses of two ministers had been attacked by people from the Imphal Valley. “If the people do not witness any improvement and the situation remains the same, we will be left with no other option than to resign,” one of the BJP MLAs told Amit Shah. Nearly a month later, the situation has not improved, only the number of residences of legislators under attack has increased.