Days after the BJP’s central leadership visited Manipur over government formation with stakeholders, Kuki-Zo leaders, including the MLAs of the community, said they discussed being a part of a “popular government”, but a decision on it had not yet been taken.
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“The question of joining a ministry was debated at length, with strong views expressed; with many representatives strongly asserting that Kuki-Zo MLAs should not join any popular ministry until the Government of India provides an unequivocal statement regarding the objective for Union Territory with a legislature … Any discussion concerning joining a ministry in the future was strictly contingent upon progress on this core political objective and did not result in a binding decision to participate in government formation under the current circumstances,” said a joint statement from the Kuki National Organisation and the United People’s Front – the two umbrella groups part of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the government, following a meeting of Kuki-Zo representatives held in Guwahati on November 15.
Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February. Last week, BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh and the party’s northeast coordinator, Sambit Patra, visited Manipur, where they met party MLAs from all communities, including Kuki-Zo MLAs, whom they met separately in Churachandpur.
This visit came amid a months-long campaign by the state’s Meitei and Naga NDA MLAs pushing for the restoration of a popular government in the state.
However, sources in the central BJP have repeatedly said the party leadership is clear that any government formation process in the state will have to also include Kuki-Zo representatives. The N Biren Singh-led state government had been accused by Kuki-Zo stakeholders as being partisan and they had welcomed the imposition of President’s Rule.
Days after their visit, on November 15, representatives of different Kuki-Zo organizations, MLAs from the community, and the groups under SoO agreement with the government held a meeting in Guwahati.
On Monday, they also issued a “declaration” reaffirming the demand for the creation of a separate Union Territory with a legislature for parts of Manipur, where the community is in majority, stating that the demand “shall be pursued with persistent, sustained, and unwavering political effort until the Government of India officially accedes to this foundational constitutional demand”.
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Earlier this month, the SoO groups had reported that in talks held November 6 and 7, the Centre’s representatives had told them that “the current policy does not support the creation of new Union Territories.”
Separately, a “clarification” was issued on behalf of the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs – of whom seven were reportedly part of the meeting – that a decision on joining a popular government was not taken at the meeting.
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