BJP keen to form govt in Manipur, says state unit chief after meeting MLAs

Imphal, May 31 (IANS) Manipur state BJP President Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi after holding a meeting with some MLAs on Saturday said that her party wants to form a "popular" government in the state.

Sharda Devi said that all BJP legislators are united and discussions were held on Saturday for the formation of the government at the earliest.

“The government should focus on development and bring peace and normalcy to the state," she told the media after the meeting.

Party sources said that 13 BJP MLAs attended the meeting, which was held at the party's state headquarters in the capital.

BJP legislator Kh Ibomcha said the formation of a government depends on the central leaders.

Another BJP legislator Paonam Brojen said there are no differences within the party about the formation of new government and leadership.

In all, 23 BJP MLAs held a meeting at the official residence of former minister Biswajit Singh on Friday night and emphasised a long-term solution to the ethnic crisis in the state.

A joint statement signed by them acknowledged the "public desire to see the formation of a popular government".

Saturday’s meeting at the state party headquarters was held four days after ten NDA MLAs - 8 from the BJP and two from the National People’s Party (NPP) – had submitted a petition to the Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla with the signatures of 22 legislators seeking the formation of a new government.

These 10 MLAs claimed that they had the support of 44 legislators in the 60-member Assembly to form a popular government in the state.

A Raj Bhavan statement earlier said that the MLAs have urged the Governor to expedite the formation of a popular government in the state.

"Ten MLAs called on Governor of Manipur Ajay Kumar Bhalla at Raj Bhavan in Imphal today (Wednesday) and discussed the law and order and political situation in the state. The issues they discussed included, among others, initiating a peace process based on mutual understanding and strengthening of security arrangements,” the statement said.

The 60-member Manipur Assembly, which, after the promulgation of President's Rule on February 13, has been put under suspended animation, has a tenure till 2027.

Former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, who resigned from the top post on February 9, met the Governor on May 27 and discussed the restoration of peace and normalcy and other vital issues of the state.

BJP's North East In-charge Sambit Patra also earlier this month visited the state’s Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts and met Kuki BJP MLAs Vungzagin Valte and Nemcha Kipgen and several Kuki-Zo and civil society organisations, including the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU). Kipgen was the lone woman Minister in the erstwhile Biren Singh-led government in Manipur.

Patra also held closed-door meetings with Biren Singh, Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh and various other leaders and MLAs in Imphal.

His visit in Manipur came nearly a week after 21 MLAs wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, urging them to reinstate a "popular government" in the state.

According to an MLA, most of the 21 legislators belong to the BJP, and the remaining were from the National People's Party (NPP), the Naga People's Front (NPF), and Independents.

In the letter, the MLAs told the Prime Minister and the Union Home that the people of Manipur welcome the President's Rule with lots of hope and expectations, but no visible actions to bring peace and normalcy in the state have been seen so far. In a bid to resolve the two-year-long ethnic hostilities, the first tripartite meeting between the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the representatives of Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities was held in New Delhi on April 5.

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), the Meitei community apex body, held a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi on May 27 and reaffirmed its commitment to restoring peace in the state.

--IANS

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