Manipur's BJP govt extends complete lockdown till Aug 31; active COVID cases at 1825

In a massive development, the Manipur government, on Saturday has extended the complete lockdown in the state till August 31, 2020, amid rise of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases. The government circular states that all activities will be banned except those listed in the annexure of National Directives. The government has also directed commissioners to impose curfew from 5 PM to 6 AM in respective districts. Manipur currently has 1825 active cases, 2360 cured cases and 13 deaths.

BJP-led government wins trust vote in Manipur, political uncertainty comes to a close

Manipur extends complete lockdown

Six Manipur Congress MLAs give up Assembly membership, resign from Party

Manipur govt wins confidence vote

Earlier on Manipur,  the N Biren Singh-led government in Manipur won the motion of confidence by voice vote. In retaliation, , two Congress legislators Th Lokeshwar and Mirabai Devi reportedly threw chairs and benches in the Assembly alleging that the confidence motion was not conducted properly. After this, Six Congress MLAs -  Okram Henry Singh,  Oinam Lukhoi, Md Abdul Nasir, Paonam Brojen, Ngamthang Haokip, and Ginsuanhau resigned from the Legislative Assembly and also quit the party on Tuesday. It has been accepted by the Speaker.

Manipur Speaker allows motion of confidence for CM Biren Singh, dismisses Congress' plea

Manipur govt crisis

On June 17,  BJP MLAs S Subhashchandra Singh, TT Haokip and Samuel Jendai, TMC MLA T Robindro Singh resigned, while 4 NPP MLAs and Independent MLA Ashab Uddin withdrew support from the Biren Singh government. Later, they 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.

With the intervention of  NEDA convenor and Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, NPP chief and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma met with former BJP chief Amit Shah and renewed its support to the BJP. After NPP's support, the BJP-led alliance had 30 MLAs (including the Speaker) in the reduced 51-member Manipur Assembly). The assembly's strength was reduced from 60 to 51 after the resignation of three BJP MLAs and the disqualification of 6 MLAs.

Manipur reports highest one-day spike of 249 COVID cases, two deaths

After the coalition was renewed, BJP won a high-stakes battle for the Rajya Sabha seat in Manipur, with Leisamba Sanajaoba secured 28 votes as against 24 votes received by Congress' nominee T Mangibabu. Later, Governor Najma Heptulla reallocated the portfolios to NPP MLA and Deputy CM Y Joykumar Singh - taking charge of Finance, Science and Technology, and Economics and Statistics. On the other hand, CM Biren Singh retained portfolios such as Home, Transport, Tourism, Minority Affairs, Information Technology, etc. NPP had tussled with CM Biren Singh after Deputy CM Joykumar Singh was divested of all the portfolios after he allegedly described the chief minister’s assurance of food security during the lockdown as “hogwash” and “gibberish”, as per reports.