Major twist in Manipur power tussle as NPP decides to support BJP govt once again

In a major twist in Manipur's power tussle on Wednesday, NEDA convenor and Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the NPP had again decided to support BJP in the state. This development comes a week after the 4 NPP MLAs- Y Joykumar Singh (Deputy CM), N. Kayisii, L Jayanta Kumar Singh, and Letpao Haokip resigned as Ministers and extended support to the opposition Congress party. Earlier in the day, an NPP delegation led by Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma and Y Joykumar Singh called on senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. 

On Tuesday, Sangma and Sarma had rushed to Manipur for resolving the grievances of the NPP MLAs. Later, they departed from Imphal for Delhi along with the MLAs to meet the BJP central leadership. Previously, the Meghalaya CM had himself admitted that there was friction between the NPP MLAs and Manipur CM N Biren Singh. 

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Manipur power tussle

In a big jolt to the BJP government in Manipur on June 17, three BJP MLAs resigned and 6 other coalition MLAs including the Deputy CM withdrew support.  BJP MLAs S Subhashchandra Singh, TT Haokip and Samuel Jendai, TMC MLA T Robindro Singh, 4 NPP MLAs, and Independent MLA Ashab Uddin extended their support to the Congress party. A day later, former CM Okram Ibobi Singh wrote to Governor Najma Heptulla staking claim to form the government. 

He urged her to summon a special session of the Assembly in a couple of days to vote on the motion of the no-confidence against the Council of Ministers which has already been moved before the Speaker. Alternatively, he suggested that the government could be outrightly dismissed as it is in a minority. However, BJP won a high-stakes battle for the Rajya Sabha seat in Manipur where its candidate Leisamba Sanajaoba secured 28 votes as against 24 votes received by Congress' nominee T Mangibabu. 

With the resignation of three BJP MLAs being accepted and the disqualification of 6 MLAs, the strength of the Manipur Assembly has reduced to 51. With the NPP's support, the BJP-led alliance has now 30 MLAs (including the Speaker) in the 51-member Manipur Assembly. This indicates that Congress might be unable to topple the government in the present scenario. 

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