Crisis over, cabinet rejig on cards in Manipur

Having overcome a political crisis with the return of four National People's Party MLAs to Manipur's ruling alliance, Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Friday said he would soon go to New Delhi to meet the Bharatiya Janata Party's central leaders to discuss redistribution of cabinet portfolios.

Now that the four NPP MLAs have submitted their letters of support to his ministry to Governor Najma Heptullah, 'the temporary political crisis in Manipur is over', he told mediapersons on the sidelines of a function for inaugurating a public parking on Naga Turel during the day.

Normal functioning of the government has started for the development of the state, he added.

The four NPP ministers, whose resignation had plunged the BJP-led coalition government into trouble on June 17, submitted a letter backing the chief minister to the Governor on Thursday, ending the over-a-week-long political turbulence in the state.

Though embattled Biren Singh has survived the crisis, media reports suggest that restructuring of the cabinet will not be an easy task for him.

While the four NPP legislators are all set to regain their position in the cabinet, the chief minister has to deal with the heightened aspirations of some of his BJP legislators to become ministers, besides that of the Congress legislators, who had defected to the saffron party shortly after the last state election in 2017.

Out of the seven defecting Congress MLAs, whose cases under anti-defection law were heard by the Manipur High Court and the Speaker's Tribunal, membership of four have been restored and they even voted in the election for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Manipur on June 19.

The BJP won the Rajya Sabha election.

Media reports further highlighted demand for an additional ministerial berth by another ally, the Naga People's Front (NPF), which stood with the saffron party during the turmoil.

The NPF also has four MLAs in the 60-member Manipur House like the NPP. It have two cabinet berths at present.

According to the constitutional provisions, Manipur can have a maximum of 12 members in the cabinet, including the chief minister.

Prior to the resignations, there were six ministers from the BJP, including CM Biren Singh, four from NPP and two hailed from NPF.

Intervention by Union Home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Naddan salvaged the BJP government which had been put on a sticky wicket following withdrawal of support by nine ruling coalition members, including four NPP legislators, three BJP rebels, one All India Trinamool Congress MLA and an Independent on June 17.