10 NDA MLAs meet Manipur Governor, claim 44 MLAs support popular government
Imphal: A day after former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh held a meeting with Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, 10 NDA MLAs on Wednesday met the Governor, claiming that they have the support of 44 legislators in the 60-member Assembly to form a popular government in the state.
The ten MLAs - 8 from the BJP and two from the National People's Party (NPP) – have submitted a petition to the Governor with the signatures of 22 legislators seeking the formation of a new government.
After the meeting at the Raj Bhavan, BJP legislator Thokchom Radheshyam Singh claimed that 44 MLAs are ready to support the new government in Manipur.
"However, the central leadership of the BJP would take the decision about the formation of the new government," he told the media.
People are facing a great deal of hardship, he said.
"In the previous term of the first BJP government, we lost two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and in the current term, another more than two years have been lost due to the ethnic conflict."
The 60-member Manipur Assembly, which, after the promulgation of President's Rule on February 13, has been put under suspended animation, has a tenure till 2027.
Biren Singh met the Governor on Tuesday and discussed the restoration of peace and normalcy and other vital issues of the state.
A senior official had said that Biren Singh, who resigned from the Chief Minister's post on February 9, four days before the promulgation of the President's Rule in the trouble-torn state, requested Bhalla to take immediate steps to resolve the vital issues, including that of illegal immigrants.
BJP's Rajya Sabha member from Manipur, Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba, earlier this month expressed hope that a popular government would be formed in the state within the next two months. He urged all political leaders to unite in dealing with the challenges the state has been facing.
"The President's rule alone cannot resolve the prevailing issues. A popular government can function closely in tandem with the people and find a solution to the present ethnic crisis," he had told the media.
BJP's North East In-charge Sambit Patra also earlier this month visited the state's Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts and met Kuki BJP MLAs Vungzagin Valte and Nemcha Kipgen and several Kuki-Zo and civil society organisations, including the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU).
Kipgen was the lone woman Minister in the Biren Singh-led government in Manipur.
Patra also held closed-door meetings with Biren Singh, Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh and various other leaders and MLAs in Imphal. However, neither Patra nor the BJP disclosed the matter of discussions of the series of meetings during his three-day stay in Manipur. His visit came nearly a week after 21 MLAs wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, urging them to reinstate a "popular government" in the state.
According to an MLA, most of the 21 legislators belong to the BJP, and the remaining were from the National People's Party (NPP), the Naga People's Front (NPF), and Independents.
In the letter, the MLAs told the Prime Minister and the Union Home that the people of Manipur welcome the President's Rule with lots of hope and expectations, but no visible actions to bring peace and normalcy in the state have been seen so far.
In a bid to resolve the two-year-long ethnic hostilities, the first tripartite meeting between the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the representatives of Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities was held in New Delhi on April 5. The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), the Meitei community apex body, held a meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in New Delhi on Tuesday and reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to restoring peace in the state.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Print
36 minutes ago
- The Print
Ram Temple moves towards completion, idol of ‘Raja Ram' consecrated
The Ram Darbar also features the idols of Sita, Lakshman, Bharat, Shatrughn and Hanuman. The day, chosen to coincide with the occasion of Ganga Dussehra, comes 16 months after the consecration of Ram Lalla, the child god, on January 22, 2024. The city was festooned and lit up as priests gathered at the first floor of the Ram temple to install the almost five-feet white marbled statue of Raja Ram, the god in his royal form, amid the chanting of hymns and elaborate rituals. Ayodhya, Jun 5 (PTI) The idol of Raja Ram was consecrated and the Ram Darbar inaugurated at the Ram Jamnabhoomi complex on Thursday, a major step towards completion of a grand temple that has been at the intersection of political and religious discourse for three decades. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the top government brass and a host of celebrities were present at the high octane occasion then, the event this time was quieter. Among those conducting the ceremony today were Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, also the head priest of the Gorakhnath Mutt in Gorakhpur, along with other priests. Devotees, unmindful of curbs, stood outside the temple complex, singing, dancing and chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' all the while. Restrictions on vehicular movement during the inauguration ceremony by the administration and the temple trust's decision to not issue temple entry passes to visitors between 9 am to 3 pm on Thursday failed to deter the devotees, some who had come from as far as Nepal. Gogan Prasad, from Nepal's capital Kathmandu, was one such devotee. 'I have waited for this moment for long. I had been praying for more than a year for an opportunity to have darshan of Lord Ram. Now that wish will be granted,' said Prasad who had come from Nepal with a large group of devotees who also appeared overwhelmed on the occasion. Also in the crowd was Alamin, a Muslim woman dressed in a traditional black burqa, waiting along with the others to be allowed to enter the temple. She was seen singing devotional songs, drawing much attention. The BJP, which is in power at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, said in a post on X, 'The second festival of Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha concluded today in Ayodhya. A step towards Ram Rajya.' The ceremony took place during the Abhijit Muhurat, considered one of the most auspicious moments in the Hindu calendar. The consecration of the deities began with prayers at the 'yajna mandap' at 6.30 am, followed by a 'havan' at 9 am, which lasted an hour. Thereafter, centralised rituals began simultaneously across all temple shrines, aided by visual technology like cameras and large screens, ensuring synchronicity of the ceremonies. According to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, among the deities consecrated were Shri Ram Darbar (central installation), Sheshavatar, Lord Shiva in the northeast (Ishan) corner, Lord Ganesha in the southeast (Agni) corner, Lord Hanuman at the southern wing, Surya (Sun God) in the southwest (Nairitya) corner, Goddess Bhagwati in the northwest (Vayavya) corner and Goddess Annapurna in the northern wing. The temple, built in the traditional Nagara style, spans 360 feet in length, 235 feet in width, and rises 161 feet high. Spread across 2.77 acres, the three-storey structure features 392 carved pillars, 44 doors and richly sculpted depictions of Hindu deities. Ram Temple trustee Anil Mishra told PTI that the ceremonies were performed in accordance with Vedic traditions. 'The day of Ganga Dussehra will symbolise a new beginning. It will be the moment when the fruits of centuries of penance, struggle, and faith will manifest in tangible form,' he said. According to Hindu scriptures, Ganga Dussehra marks the day the holy river Ganga descended to Earth from Lord Shiva's locks, moved by King Bhagirath's penance. The day is considered highly auspicious and symbolises virtue, penance, and the collective well-being of humanity. 'This year, Ganga Dussehra will not only be sacred but also historic, as after a long struggle of 500 years, Lord Ram, known as Raja Ram, will be ceremonially installed on the first floor of the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya,' Mahant Raghuvar Sharan, chief priest of Rasik Niwas Temple in Ayodhya, told PTI ahead of the event. Adityanath offered prayers at the Ram Temple and visited the Hanumangarhi temple nearby. Adding a political touch to the proceedings of the day, he said in a post on X, 'This auspicious occasion is a new expression of 'Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat'. Victory to Siyavar Shri Ramachandra!' 'Today, in the holy birthplace of Lord Shri Ram, Ayodhya Dham, we are getting the great fortune of becoming a witness to the programme organised for the Pran-Pratishtha of the holy idols of gods in the eight temples including Shri Ram Darbar on the first floor of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple,' he said. The inauguration of the temple in January 2024 had marked the culmination of a decades-long campaign, mostly under the Hindutva banner, to reclaim a disputed religious site in Ayodhya. It was months before the Lok Sabha elections and 34 years after BJP veteran L K Advani's 'Mandir Wahin Banayenge' speech during his Rath yatra that shaped Ram mandir politics. The 16th century Babri mosque at the spot where many Hindu devotees believe is the place where Ram was born was the centre of a simmering dispute for decades. The mosque was demolished by 'kar sewaks' on December 6, 1992, triggering communal riots that left hundreds dead. After a long legal battle, the Supreme Court in 2019 ruled in favour of the construction of the temple. It also ordered allotment of a five-acre plot for building a mosque. The scrapping of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, building a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya and the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code(UCC) have been BJP's poll plank for decades. PTI COR KIS JKY MAN DV MIN MIN This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
The Hindu
42 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Delimitation will address concerns of southern States: MHA
The delimitation exercise will take care of the concerns expressed by southern States, and discussions will be held with all stakeholders at the appropriate time, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Thursday (June 5, 2025). In a post on X, a day after it announced that the Census exercise will be concluded by March 1, 2027, the MHA said that Home Minister Amit Shah has 'clarified on many occasions that in delimitation exercise, concerns of southern states will be taken care of and discussed with all concerned at an appropriate time.' As per Constitutional norms, the first Census held after 2026 can be used as the basis to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies. The next general election is expected to be held in 2029. 'Questionable timing' On Wednesday (June 3, 2025), Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had questioned the timing of the Census, saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had deliberately delayed the exercise to 2027, 'making their plan clear to reduce Tamil Nadu's Parliamentary representation'. The southern States have been opposing the population-based criteria for the redrawing of constituencies, which was last done on the basis of 1971 Census data. COVID-19 delays In a series of posts on X, the MHA added that the Census was originally planned to be conducted in 2021 and all preparations for this had been completed. 'However, due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic across the country, the Census work was postponed. The aftershock of Covid-19 continued for quite some time,' it said. The Ministry added that all sectors, including education, were disrupted by the pandemic. 'Around 30 lakh enumerators are needed for Census. Enumerators, who are primary school teachers, are key persons for conducting Census. Conducting Census after Covid could have disrupted primary education immensely,' the Ministry said. It added: 'Countries which conducted Census immediately after Covid-19 faced issues on quality and coverage of Census data.' It further clarified that budgets have never been a constraint for the Census, as funding is always ensured by the Union government.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
43 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Delimitation concerns will be discussed at an appropriate time: MHA
A day after it announced the schedule for conducting Census-2027, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday said the concerns of southern states about the delimitation exercise, which will take place on the basis of the census data, will be taken care of and discussed with all concerned at an appropriate time. In a series of posts on 'X', the MHA said budget allocation has never been a constraint for conducting the census, as funds are always ensured by the government. The entire 2021 Census exercise was estimated to cost the government over ₹13,000 crore. The Budget for 2025–26 allocated ₹574.80 crore for census surveys and statistics / the Registrar General of India (RGI). The MHA did not explicitly state whether the census data could be available in time for a delimitation commission to decide on the number of seats in the Lok Sabha before the 2029 polls. However, the ministry alluded to Home Minister Amit Shah's earlier statements on the delimitation exercise. It stated that Shah has 'clarified on many occasions that in the delimitation exercise the concerns of southern states will be taken care of and discussed with all concerned at an appropriate time'. The delimitation of constituencies for the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies is to be carried out on the basis of the first Census after 2026. It will also be the basis for reserving a third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. Tamil Nadu, and other southern states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Telangana, fear that the delimitation exercise, if conducted solely on the basis of population, would diminish their political representation in Parliament. Some of the southern states have demanded a freeze on the number of Lok Sabha seats, based on the 1971 Census, for another 25 years. The provisional data for the 2011 Census was released on 31 March 2011, 25 days after its population enumeration phase ended, while the final data was released two years later on 30 April 2013. The MHA also defended the delay in holding the Census exercise. It said Census 2021 was to be conducted and all preparations were completed. However, due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic across the country, the Census work was postponed. The aftershock of Covid-19 continued for quite some time, it said. The ministry said Covid-19 disrupted all sectors including education. It said around 3 million enumerators are needed for the Census. Enumerators, who are primary school teachers, are key persons for conducting the Census. Conducting the Census after Covid could have disrupted primary education immensely, the MHA said. The MHA also pointed out that countries which conducted the Census immediately after Covid-19 faced issues regarding the quality and coverage of Census data. It said the government has decided to commence the process of Census forthwith, which will complete on 1 March 2027 — the reference date for the Census. The Centre on Wednesday said Census-2027, with caste enumeration, will be undertaken in two phases across the country. It will be completed by 1 October 2026 in snow-bound and hilly areas like Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and by 1 March 2027 in the rest of the country. The reference date for the headcount will be 12 am on 1 March 2027 for the rest of the country.
