Shillong, Dec 25: In a major development on the eve of Christmas, the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, appointed former Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as Governor of Manipur and former Army General Vijay Kumar Singh as the Governor of Mizoram.
The latest gubernatorial appointments are of significance since both the states share long border with Myanmar and are home to Kuki-Zo population.
The Meitei – Kuki conflict in Manipur is well over 1.5 years old with no resolution in sight. Bhalla was still the Union Home Secretary when the conflict started on May 3, 2023. His tenure in the Home Ministry and understanding of the situation from the Centre as well as State level is expected to help with resolving the ethnic conflict at the earliest.
Bhalla is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of 1984 batch of Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He retired on August 22, 2024, after serving for 5 years as Union Home Secretary.
Some of the major challenges he oversaw during his tenure include overseeing the implementation of measures following the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019, managing the government’s response to nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) later that year, and leading the nation’s efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bhalla’s appointment as Governor of Manipur is seen as crucial as people have been pressing the Central government to take concrete steps to bring an end of the continued violence in Manipur. As of date, deaths of atleast 221 people have been confirmed, with over 1000 injured and over 50,000 displaced.
On the other hand, former Army General Vijay Kumar Singh’s appointment as Governor of Mizoram is also seen as critical as the migration of internally displaced people from Manipur to Mizoram has been continuing. At the same time, Mizoram has been sheltering a large number of illegal immigrants from Myanmar, who have fled their country due to the ongoing civil war.
Gen. Singh, who represented Ghaziabad as Lok Sabha MP for two consecutive terms from 2014, was part of key portfolios during us tenure as MP. In the Modi’s 1st ministry, he served as Minister of State for External Affairs, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of the North-Eastern Region, and Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation. In Modi’s 2nd ministry, he served as the Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, and Minister of State for Civil Aviation.
He’s tactical and strategic expertise as an Army veteran is also expected to tackle the growing challenge of drugs’ supply from Myanmar via Mizoram among other issues.
Centre strategic move by appointing Ajay Kumar Bhalla as Manipur Governor and Gen Singh as Mizoram Governor is seen as not only crucial to resolving the Manipur crisis but also addressing broader issues in and around the State since the violence itself has multiple facets to it – internal, external and even international.
Meanwhile, the President also made gubernatorial appointments to three others states: Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati has been appointed as Governor of Odisha; Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has been appointed as Governor of Kerala; and Arif Mohammed Khan has been appointed as Governor of Bihar.
Read: Assam: Himanta slams Congress over Ambedkar’s legacy
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