44 MLAs ready to form new govt in Manipur, says BJP leader after Guv meet

Forty-four MLAs are ready to form a new government in Manipur, BJP legislator Thokchom Radheshyam Singh claimed on Wednesday after meeting Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla.

Singh, along with nine other MLAs, met the governor at the Raj Bhavan.

"Forty-four MLAs are ready to form a government as per the wishes of the people. We have conveyed this to the governor. We also discussed what solutions can be there for the issue," he said.

"The governor noted what we had to say and will initiate actions in the best interests of the people," he added.

Asked if they would stake a claim to form the government, he said the central leadership of the BJP will take the decision.

"However, to inform that we are ready is similar to staking a claim to form a government. Speaker Th Satyabrata has individually and jointly met the 44 MLAs. There is no one who opposes the formation of a new government," Singh said.

"People are facing too much hardship. In the previous term, two years were lost due to COVID, and in this term, another two years have been lost due to the conflict," he said.

Manipur has been under President's Rule since February after BJP leader N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister, amid criticisms about his government's handling of the ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos, which broke out in May 2023.

The 60-member assembly at present has 59 MLAs, with one seat vacant due to the death of a legislator. In the BJP-led coalition, there are 32 Meitei MLAs, three Manipuri Muslim MLAs and nine Naga legislators, totalling 44.

The Congress has five MLAs -- all Meiteis. The remaining 10 MLAs are Kukis -- seven of them won the last election on a BJP ticket, two belong to the Kuki Peoples' Alliance, and one is an Independent.

The development comes amid massive protests in the Meitei-inhabited Imphal Valley over the hiding of the state's name written on the windshield of a government bus by security forces.

Meitei groups have been demanding an apology from the governor over the incident that happened in Gwaltabi on May 20, and the resignation of the chief secretary, DGP, and security advisor.

Since the beginning of the ethnic strife in May 2023, in which over 250 people have been killed, Meitei groups maintain that the territorial integrity of the state is non-negotiable in any peace process, while the Kuki-Zo outfits assert that the only solution to resolve the crisis is creating a separate administration for the hill districts where they live.

The Gwaltabi incident has added to the tensions, which were waning in recent months because of a slew of measures being taken by the Centre to bring back peace to the state.