Manipur BJP MLAs In Delhi To Meet Central Leaders, Seek Government Formation

BJP MLAs and leaders from Manipur including former chief minister N Biren Singh will meet the party's central leaders to discuss the formation of a popular government in the state.

Before leaving for Delhi, N Biren Singh told reporters at Imphal International Airport that a delegation is going to Delhi to meet central leaders.

"Would urge the central leaders to facilitate the formation of a new popular government, resolve the crisis faced by internally displaced persons and reopen key highways at the earliest," he said.

Former ministers Sapam Ranjan Singh and Heikham Dingo Singh, and BJP MLA Tongbram Robindro Singh accompanied the former chief minister to Delhi on Saturday.

The same day, a group of MLAs including former minister Leishangthem Susindro Meitei, Thangjam Arunkumar and Lourembam Rameshwor Meetei, all BJP MLAs, separately left Imphal for Delhi.

Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, former minister Govindas Konthoujam and MLAs Kongkham Robindro, Sapam Kunjakeshwor, Thounaojam Shyamkumar and Karam Shyam are also expected to leave Imphal on Sunday.

The state had a BJP-led coalition government headed by Biren Singh before the imposition of President's rule on February 13 this year.

Singh quit the chief ministerial post on February 9, four days before the President's rule was imposed in the state due to prolonged ethnic violence, which broke out on May 3, 2023.

The 60-member Manipur assembly is under suspended animation and has a tenure till 2027.

Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla is already in Delhi. Bhalla, a former Home Secretary, met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday and called on Vice President CP Radhakrishnan on Friday.

Senior government officials in Manipur including Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel and Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Home) N Ashok Kumar have also left for Delhi. The purpose of their visit has not been disclosed.

The President's rule was extended by parliament for six more months counting from August 13.