Manipur: BJP-Led Coalition Comes Apart at the Seams, Congress Likely to Make a Move

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Kajal Agrawal

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Manipur: BJP-Led Coalition Comes Apart at the Seams, Congress Likely to Make a Move ^Featured

Super User 17 June 2020

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Not just three BJP MLAs, four from its alliance partner, the National People’s Party, one independant and the lone TMC legislator have also joined the Congress.

New Delhi: The BJP-led coalition government in Manipur came apart at the seams on Wednesday evening with three BJP MLAs making a shift to the Congress, thus reducing its number of legislators from 21 to 18 in the 60-member assembly.

The latest reports from Imphal said that the Congress, which was the single largest party after the 2017 assembly elections, is moving to meet the governor to seek a special assembly session to move a no confidence motion against the N. Biren Singh government. Unconfirmed reports, though, said former Congress chief minister O. Ibobi Singh has already staked claim to form the next government. The Wire couldn’t independently confirm this.

However, what has further added to the Congress’ confidence is, aside from the three BJP MLAs, all four MLAs of the BJP’s alliance partner – National People’s Party (NPP) – have also joined the Congress on June 17 along with an independent member from Jiribam, Asafuddin, and the lone TMC legislator, Tongbram Robindro Singh.

The rebel BJP MLAs are D.D. Haokip of the Henglep assembly segment, Soibam Subhaschandra from Naoriya Pakhanglapa and Samuel Jendai from the Tamenglong constituency.

Three of the four NPP legislators were ministers in the Biren Singh government. In a one-line resignation letter to the chief minister, Yumnam Joykumar Singh of the NPP, who served as the state’s deputy chief minister, said, “I am to intimate that I tender resignation from cabinet membership of the BJP-led coalition government of Manipur led by your good self.”

Lately, the differences between Joykumar and Biren Singh have been out in the open with the chief minister stripping him of all portfolios in early April.

On being asked about the resignation of the NPP ministers from the Manipur government and whether that would mean NPP would withdraw support from the BJP-led government in the state, a top source from the party headquarters in Meghalaya – where it leads the coalition government – said, “We are awaiting more information from Imphal in this regard.”

After the 2017 elections, though the Congress had 28 members, eight of its MLAs had eventually defected to the BJP. While seven of them have been barred from entering the assembly by the Speaker following a Manipur high court order in early June, one of them has been disqualified for violating the anti-defection law following a Supreme Court directive this past March.

A report in the Imphal Free Press said the four MLAs of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) are, however, still with the BJP. Counting in the lone LJP member, the total number of the MLAs of the three parties would be 23, but still not enough to reach the simple majority.

With the disqualification of Congress MLA Shyamkumar, the strength of the house has been reduced to 59 members. The three BJP MLAs who resigned from the party have also resigned from the assembly, thus reducing the number further to 56. If the seven other Congress MLAs barred from the house for the time being are counted out too, it would reduce the Congress’s strength to 20.

Any formulation would need at least 24 members to stake claim to form a government. The Congress, after Wednesday’s developments, has 26 MLAs, excluding the eight who are disqualified or barred.

While speculation is rife among political observers in Manipur about the next possible course of action, a senior editor of an Imphal-based newsroom who didn’t want to be identified told The Wire, “The Congress is in the best position among all parties to form a government with support from the others who have joined the party today, but President’s Rule too still can’t be ruled out as the governor is from the BJP and has a ready alibi too to not hold an assembly session on account of the fear of coronavirus.”

He said, “Within the BJP, there has been unhappiness in regard to the leadership of the chief minister for quite some time. Some of the MLAs had even travelled to Delhi to meet the central leadership, seeking a change of chief minister. It may happen even now to keep the flock together.”