New Delhi: Five days after they landed in Delhi to meet the BJP central leadership to press for restoration of the Manipur government, nearly 26 BJP MLAs from the state are yet to get an audience with Union Home Minister Amit Shah or BJP national president J.P. Nadda, ThePrint has learnt.
The only leader with whom the former chief minister of Manipur, N. Biren Singh, who arrived in Delhi on 4 October with other MLAs, has so far had an audience is BJP Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra—three senior BJP MLAs from the Manipur unit confirmed to ThePrint, on the condition of anonymity. While Biren Singh and three MLAs arrived last Saturday, some other MLAs, including Manipur assembly ex-speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, landed in Delhi Sunday.
The MLAs said that the meeting with Sambit Patra at Manipur Bhawan lasted an hour Wednesday evening, and they urged the Northeast in-charge of the party to convince the high command to expedite the process of forming the Manipur government.
“We told him (Patra) that the BJP MLAs are all together, and there is no factionalism. Any delay now in government formation could be detrimental to the party’s interests. The people are getting frustrated. We also told him to facilitate our meeting with Amit Shah ji,” one of the MLAs told ThePrint.
Patra, on his part, told the MLAs that there should be “consensus” among all MLAs, be they from the Meitei, Kuki or Naga communities.
Since 13 February this year, Manipur has been under President’s Rule. The President’s Rule has so far been extended twice and is supposed to be in place till February 2026.
The BJP MLAs said with the central leadership busy with the upcoming Bihar elections, there is little hope that they will get an audience with Shah and Nadda.
“If we don’t get an appointment, we are planning to return home within the next two to three days,” said the second BJP MLA, adding, “It will be embarrassing if we return without meeting the home minister. Before coming here, we told our constituents that we would meet the central leadership and press for the installation of a popular government.”
Last Sunday, Manipur BJP MLA Thounaojam Shyamkumar had told reporters at the Imphal airport that if the MLAs did not get an appointment with Amit Shah, he would resign.
The BJP MLAs’ visit to Delhi comes close on the heels of Narendra Modi’s visit to Manipur last month—the PM’s first visit since the ethnic conflict broke out in the state in May 2023.
Another of the three BJP MLAs who attended the meeting with Sambit Patra said that the law and order situation in Manipur has improved. The MLAs, he said, have told Sambit Patra that the time is conducive for the installation of a popular government in the state.
President’s Rule was imposed in Manipur after there had been no improvement in the law and order situation since the ethnic clashes started in May 2023 between the mostly Hindu Metei and tribal Kuki-Zo communities.
Though violence has more or less subsided now, the situation in the state continues to be volatile. Less than a fortnight after the PM’s visit, two jawans lost their lives and four others were left injured after suspected militants ambushed a vehicle that carried Assam Rifles troops in Manipur’s Bishnupur district.
Security establishment opposes MLAs
While BJP MLAs in Manipur have been pushing for government formation, the security establishment wants President’s Rule to continue for some more time. It is one of the reasons behind the Centre’s reluctance to take a call on forming the state government, despite the BJP being in a majority in the 60-member Manipur assembly.
The assembly currently has 59 MLAs, against the backdrop of National People’s Party (NPP) legislator N. Kayisii’s death earlier in January this year.
Now, the BJP MLAs, including seven from the Kuki-Zo community, hold 32 assembly seats. Five Janata Dal (United) MLAs had joined the BJP after the 2022 Manipur assembly elections, taking the party’s strength to 37, effectively.
The remaining MLAs included seven from the National People’s Party (NPP), a former BJP ally, but after Kayisii’s death, only six MLAs remain from the Conrad Sangma-led party. Earlier in November 2024, the NPP, which had been supporting the Biren Singh government, also withdrew its support from the BJP.
Another former BJP ally, the Kuki People’s Alliance, has sent two MLAs to the Manipur assembly, which also has five MLAs from the Kuzholuzo Nienu-led Naga People’s Front (NPF), three Independent MLAs, five Congress MLAs, and a JD(U) MLA.
The second BJP MLA, quoted earlier, told ThePrint that all party MLAs are now together. “We have left it to the central leadership to pick the CM candidate. Whoever they choose will be accepted by us,” he said.
In the aftermath of the ethnic conflict, factionalism has riddled the Manipur BJP unit. While a section had supported Biren Singh, there were equal numbers in the opposite camp. Ten Kuki MLAs in the state assembly, including the seven from the BJP, have kept themselves aloof from any talks on government formation.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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