Manipur stares at Prez rule as 6-month period for House session ends

Amid the political crisis in strife-torn Manipur, the BJP leadership has failed to arrive at a consensus on who would be the next chief minister, despite the party’s Northeast incharge Sambit Patra having held several rounds of negotiations with MLAs. Also, with the six-month period since the last Assembly session was held coming to an end today, the possibility of imposition of President’s rule is becoming a likelihood.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, Patra during the day met Governor AK Bhalla for around an hour in Raj Bhavan. However, the details of the meeting could not be ascertained. On Tuesday also, a delegation of BJP MLAs led by Patra met Bhalla.

The already troubled state plunged into a crisis on February 9 when N Biren Singh resigned from the CM’s post, just hours after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital.

Soon after accepting his resignation, the Governor had revoked the order of calling the Budget session of the state Assembly, which was to begin from February 10. The opposition Congress had planned

to move a no-confidence motion against Singh’s government on that day.

However, with the BJP leadership having failed to arrive at a consensus candidate for the chief minister’s post and the mandatory six months period between two Assembly sessions ending within a few hours, the possibility of President’s rule imposition looks like a distinct possibility.

Assembly Speaker T Satyabrata, minister Khemchand and another leader, Radheshyam, are among the frontrunners for the CM’s post. According to sources, Satyabrata has the support of around nine MLAs, including three each from the allies JD(U) and NPP, while Y Khemchand Singh (a known critic of Biren Singh) is learnt to be supported by around six legislators, including four from the BJP. Radheshyam reportedly has four BJP MLAs backing him.

In the 60-seat Assembly, BJP has a comfortable majority of 37 MLAs, however seven of them are from the Kuki-Zo community who have not been participating in Assembly sessions since the start of the conflict in May 2023 and have said they would not engage with a state government led by Biren Singh.

These seven Kuki MLAs have also not been consulted by their party or called for any meeting since the crisis broke out after Singh’s resignation.

Meanwhile, experts have warned that with no one staking claim to form the government so far, the BJP-ruled Manipur may head towards a constitutional crisis.