In the backdrop of an unprecedented unified protest all over the northeastern states over the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in the last few months, Manipur chief minister Nongthombam Biren Singh has categorically ruled out any chance of a united regional political formation in the region.
“I think regionalism is almost gone. That time is gone. We are now joining the mainstream, hand in hand with the central government,” the chief minister said in an exclusive conversation in state capital Imphal.
"The states may raise issues but from our side there is no question of uniting the whole North East,” he says adding that there is support for the CAB in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura besides Manipur.