Imphal/New Delhi: Four days after N. Biren Singh resigned as chief minister of Manipur, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Thursday notified imposition of President’s Rule in the state under Article 356 of the Constitution, keeping the Assembly in suspended animation.
With the imposition of President’s Rule, the Centre will take over all functioning of the state government except that of the legislature. The President’s Rule has to be approved by Parliament within two months of the notification.
The notification issued Thursday by the MHA read: “Whereas, I, Droupadi Murmu, President of India, have received a report from the Governor of the state of Manipur and after considering the report and other information received by me, I am satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the Government of that State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India.” It goes on to add that, in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 356, and of all other powers enabling the President in that behalf, the President will assume to herself all functions of the Manipur government and all powers vested in or exercisable by the governor of the state. It also says powers of the state legislature shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament.
Clause ‘c’ of the notification says the operation of stated provisions of the Constitution in relation to the state is hereby “suspended” … “so much of the proviso to Article 3 as relates to the reference by the President to the Legislature of the state”. This implies that the state legislature has effectively been kept in suspended animation.
“In the meantime, the governor can explore the possibility of an alternate government being formed. This has to be done at the earliest as the Assembly can’t remain in suspended animation indefinitely as all legislative work including passing of the budget comes to a standstill,” P.D.T. Achary, former Lok Sabha secretary general, told ThePrint.
Achary elaborated that if an alternate government cannot be formed at the earliest, the Governor will have to inform the President, who can then decide to dissolve the Assembly.
In such an eventuality, fresh elections will have to be held.
“It’s only after the state Assembly is dissolved that Parliament gets the power to take over the legislative and financial functions of the government including passing of the budget. Passing a budget is an important legislative business of a state. You can’t have a situation where the Assembly is in suspended animation for long,” Achary added.
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BJP’s search for consensus candidate
A Manipur BJP leader, who wished to not be named, said imposition of President’s Rule without dissolution of the Assembly will allow the BJP to appoint a chief minister after a consensus is built. “This gives the party some more time to look for the right candidate, who is acceptable to all,” the BJP leader said.
The decision to impose President’s Rule comes after a series of marathon meetings in Imphal Monday, led by the BJP’s Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra, who met with senior party MLAs including those who had gone against Biren.
A Manipur BJP leader told ThePrint that, despite a round of meetings, the party could not come up with a consensus CM candidate, who will be acceptable to both the Meiteis and Kukis. “The only other option in such a scenario was the imposition of President’s Rule with suspended animation, where the state Assembly is not dissolved,” said the leader.
The leader added that a majority of the party MLAs are against dissolution of the Assembly. “We still have the majority,” said the BJP leader quoted earlier.
The emergence of at least four chief ministerial aspirants backed by different groups of BJP MLAs have put the party leadership in a tight spot. “Each of these leaders including Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, cabinet minister Yumnam Khemchand, Th Biswajit Singh and Thokchom Radheshyam Singh claim to have the support of at least half-a-dozen to over a dozen MLAs,” a leader, who was part of the Biren government, said.
Multiple rounds of meetings that Patra held with MLAs from the BJP and its allies have failed to throw up a “consensus” candidate acceptable to all communities including the state’s 10 Kuki MLAs, said BJP sources.
In the 60-member Assembly, 40 legislators are from the Meitei community, 10 from the Kuki-Zo community and the remaining 10 from the Naga community. Of the 37 BJP MLAs (including 5 from the JD(U) who had merged), 28 are Meiteis, 7 Kukis and 2 Nagas.
The non-tribal Meiteis and the tribal Kukis—the two main communities in the state—have been engaged in a violent conflict since May 2023.
Leaders from the BJP and NDA constituents Naga People’s Front (NPF), National People’s Party (NPP) and Janata Dal (United) told ThePrint, on condition that they not be named, that when Patra met some of the MLAs from these parties, he impressed upon them that a temporary central rule, where the Assembly is not dissolved, was desirable at this point.
“He (Patra) said President’s Rule for some time will help restore normalcy and we should support it. He kept emphasising that after there is some semblance of normalcy, the party will install a popular government,” two leaders from BJP and its alliance partners told ThePrint.
One leader quoted earlier added, “On Tuesday (11 February), Patra took a small delegation of MLAs to meet Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla. The MLAs conveyed to Bhalla that they don’t want to stake claim to form the government and he should recommend central rule.”
ThePrint reached Sambit Patra but he was not available for comment.
President’s options under Article 356
Once the governor sends his report to the President that the government of the state cannot carry on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, and if the President is satisfied, the latter can proclaim President’s Rule in the state.
“The President has two options. Either she can take over the administration of the state completely and dissolve the Assembly or she can take over the administration of the state but keep the Assembly in suspended animation. The second option allows government formation at a later date, without calling for fresh elections,” Achary said.
The former Lok Sabha secretary general added that Article 174(1) of the Constitution—which mandates that there cannot be more than a six-month gap between the last sitting of an Assembly session and the first sitting of the next Assembly session—becomes inoperative once an elected government, responsible to the legislature, is not in office.
“In the case of Manipur, with N. Biren Singh stepping down, the elected government ceases to exist. There is no government in place now. So, no session can be held. The gap of six months required between two sessions becomes inoperative in such a situation,” Achary said.
The 7th session of the 12th Manipur Assembly was scheduled to begin on 10 February. But after Biren stepped down Sunday evening, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla declared the session that was to commence from February 10 “null and void with immediate effect”.
The Presidential proclamation under Article 356 is issued after the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approves it. However, with the PM on a three-day visit to France and the US, there is no clarity on when the cabinet met to approve it.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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The right decision, even if there had been no political compulsion to do so.