Imphal, April 30 The Opposition Congress on Wednesday slammed 21 MLAs of Manipur for bypassing the state Governor and writing letters to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister, urging them to reinstate a popular government in the state.
Manipur state Congress President, Keisham Meghachandra Singh, on Wednesday said that these 21 MLAs must first go to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla with their request, but without doing so they wrote letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging them to reinstate a popular government in the state.
Singh, who is also a member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, said that 21 MLAs belonging to the BJP and its allies -- the National People’s Party (NPP), Naga People’s Front (NPF), Janata Dal (United) and two Independent legislators -- in a 60-member Manipur Assembly, wrote to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister for the installation of their government in Manipur.
“These legislators, who should have gone to Raj Bhavan in Imphal to stake claim for the formation of a new government, had chosen not to write to the Manipur Governor. Instead, they chose to write to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister.
"The state has been placed under President’s Rule. Their actions show that they are not serious about meeting the Governor to stake claim for the formation of a new government in Manipur. The mandate of the people of Manipur can't be played with for their political conveniences,” the Congress leader wrote on his X handle.
He said that the people of Manipur want a change. “The people of Manipur want a new alternative. We must honour the new alternative and the change that the people of Manipur will bring for our better future.”
Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13, four days after the resignation of N. Biren Singh from the Chief Minister’s post.
The 60-member Manipur Assembly, which, after the promulgation of President’s Rule, has been put under suspended animation, has a tenure till 2027.
The letter of the MLAs to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister, which is available with IANS, said that the people of Manipur welcomed 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.
The letter said, “There is a strong apprehension among the common people that violence may recur in the state. Many Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have come out openly against the imposition of President's Rule. They have been demanding the installation of a popular government in the state.
"These organisations have started holding public rallies, street corner meetings, instigating the general public, blaming the ruling MLAs for not staking a claim to form a popular government and fixing responsibility for the imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur.”
The MLAs in their letter dated April 29 said that the installation of a popular government is the only means to bring peace and normalcy in Manipur.
“We assure you that we will work with full dedication and devotion to bring peace and normalcy in our state after the installation of a popular government,” the letter said.
After the imposition of President’s Rule on February 13, this is the first major appeal to the Centre to reinstate the state government.
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.
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