Manipur Political crisis: Congress top brass dispatches Ajay Maken & Gogoi as observers

Amid the ongoing political turmoil in Manipur where the Congress is gearing up to stake claim of the government, the top leadership of the Congress party has appointed Ajay Maken as the 'observer' in the state. Maken will be joined by AICC in-charge of Manipur, Gaurav Gogoi and will reach the state on Friday through a special flight.

The leaders have been asked to supervise and look after the current political situation in the state, after three BJP MLAs joined Congress, while four National People's Party (NPP) MLAs, an independent MLA and TMC MLA withdrew support to the BJP-led government in the state, according to the top sources of the Congress.

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In a major political development in Northeastern state on Thursday, Congress staked claim to form the government in Manipur. The party wrote to the Governor calling for a floor test to prove their majority in the state Assembly. As 9 MLA's have withdrawn support from the BJP government Congress is confident of getting the majority of the numbers on their side for a smooth sail during the trust vote. 52 MLAs including 29 of Congress, 22 of BJP and others, including the Assembly Speaker will be able to cast their vote.

Meanwhile, the 7 Congress MLAs, who defected to the BJP will not be eligible to vote as they have been restricted by the High Court of Manipur from entering the Assembly till Speaker Yumnam Khemchand Singh disposes of the pending anti-defection cases against them.

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Political crisis in Manipur

On Wednesday, three BJP MLAs resigned, while 6 other coalition MLAs including the Deputy CM withdrew support to the BJP-led coalition government. After resigning, the three BJP MLAs - S Subhash Chandra Singh, TT Haokip and Samuel Jendai, officially joined the Congress party which already has 28 MLAs. The remaining six MLAs- TMC's T Robindro Singh, NPP's  Y Joykumar Singh, N. Kayisii, L Jayanta Kumar Singh, and Letpao Haokip and Independent MLA Ashab Uddin extended their support to Congress, enhancing their support to 34 MLAs in a 60-member Assembly (including the speaker).

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(With inputs from ANI)