New Delhi: The rebellion that shook the N. Biren Singh-led BJP government in Manipur was a long time in the making but delayed by the Covid-19 lockdown, Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joykumar has told ThePrint.
Joykumar, a leader of the National People’s Party (NPP), is one of nine MLAs who resigned from Manipur’s Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA, the northeast chapter of the BJP’s NDA) government, leaving it in a minority. The other rebels included three leaders of the NPP, three of the BJP, one Trinamool Congress MLA and an Independent.
“This was a crisis that had been simmering for some time now. The move got delayed because of the lockdown, or you would have seen this happen a few months ago,” Joykumar told ThePrint.
“But with the Rajya Sabha polls round the corner, it was expected that everyone’s anger would manifest in this form,” he added.
The Rajya Sabha polls are set to take place Friday, and Manipur’s sole seat is among those up for grabs.
With the rebellion, the NEDA’s tally is down to 23 from 32 seats in the 60-seat Manipur assembly. The three BJP rebels have joined the Congress, and the others have also expressed their desire to support the party.
Resentment against what is seen as N. Biren Singh’s “one-man style of functioning” had been brewing for a long time, with local leaders also having approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former BJP president Amit Shah for his removal.
In April, Joykumar was stripped of all his portfolios, which were subsequently allocated to the chief minister. The deputy chief minister was in charge of housing and urban development, forest, environment and climate change, science and technology, and economics and statistics.
The rebel MLAs, Joykumar said, were forced to take this “unprecedented call due to the chief minister’s dictatorial tendencies”.
“The CM acted like a dictator, his dictatorial ways are the reason this is happening. This is truly unprecedented, there is no other reason why we would leave the ruling government like this,” he said.
Also Read: Year-long power tussle between CM & his deputy — how the Manipur crisis came to be
‘Rise of the Congress’
Manipur Congress spokesperson Ningombam Bupenda Meitei tweeted a video Wednesday, saying the downfall of the BJP will be followed by the rise of the Congress as the ruling party.
“This clearly shows the downfall of the Narendra Modi and the BJP-led regime. This is a new trend and beginning for 2024 (when the next Lok Sabha polls are scheduled), this is a new beginning for 2022 (when Manipur will go to the polls) in different states of the country and I am sure this is the rise of the Congress and like-minded parties,” he said.
The new beginning of India begins in Manipur today with the downfall of the BJP rule in the state. Today marks the sunrise for Manipur. Today is the dawn of 2024 for India. pic.twitter.com/oJ5wv4HUk0
— Ningombam Bupenda Meitei (@BupendaMeitei) June 17, 2020
The Congress also said that, if it manages to form the government successfully, it will only validate the public’s mandate.
In the 2017 assembly polls, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party, winning 28 seats. The BJP won 21 seats but managed to cobble together an alliance with the NPP, the Naga People’s Front (NPF) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). One TMC and one Independent MLA also supported the BJP.
“We are going to have a new coalition government in Manipur, led by the Congress party. Along with the like-minded parties, we are going to form a government in Imphal. It has been a long-standing demand and dream for the entire state, as the mandate had been given to the Congress, and today marks a new beginning,” Meitei said.
Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, former Manipur chief minister and Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh said the party will soon look to move for a floor test.
“According to the party-wise position, if the present state government is down to a minority, then we will definitely move for a floor test. If they are in minority, definitely, we shall have to form the government,” he said.
‘Sensed the dissatisfaction’
Members of the Congress told ThePrint that they had been able to sense the “growing dissatisfaction” among the MLAs of the ruling alliance.
“We realised that there was a growing dissatisfaction among certain MLAs. So, it was only a matter of time before they would withdraw their support from the BJP,” a Manipur Congress leader said.
“The mandate belonged to Congress all along. We knew the dissatisfaction would surface before the Rajya Sabha polls. This is only validating our position that the public’s heart was with us,” the leader added.
This is an updated version of the report
Also Read: Madhya Pradesh BJP claims support of BSP, SP & Independents in Rajya Sabha elections
This defection is the Chinese underhand at play.
The Chinese will try every dirty trick to destabilise India – people of India – WAKE UP.