The BJP in Manipur struggled to select a successor to caretaker Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh for the third straight day on Wednesday (February 12, 2025).
Sambit Patra, the MP in charge of the party’s affairs in the northeast, met Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla for the third time in as many days. Neither the Raj Bhavan nor the BJP issued any statement on what transpired during their meeting for more than an hour.
Mr. Patra, who continued his one-to-one meeting with the legislators of the BJP and its allies, declined to speak to journalists after emerging from the Raj Bhavan.
However, BJP legislator Karam Shyam dismissed speculations about the imposition of the President’s Rule in the ethnic conflict-scarred State. “Contrary to the hypotheses, there will be no constitutional crisis. We have reasons to believe our central leaders will resolve the matter in consultation with the party’s State unit,” the MLA representing the Langthabal constituency said.
A senior BJP leader in Imphal said the party’s central leadership, including Home Minister Amit Shah and national president J.P. Nadda, could meet the State’s legislators in Delhi soon to finalise a consensus candidate for the Chief Minister’s post.
In the 60-member Manipur Assembly, the BJP has 32 MLAs, including seven from the Kuki-Zo community who have stayed away from the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley since violence broke out on May 3, 2023, claiming at least 250 lives and displacing some 60,000 others.
Warning note
Amid the political crisis, pressure groups have begun to show their frustration. Ph. Nando Luwang, the president of the influential All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation, said the imposition of President’s Rule or keeping the State Assembly in suspended animation would not make any difference to the people of the State at this juncture.
“However, we will not remain passive if there is any threat to Manipur’s territorial integrity,” he said, obliquely referring to the demand for a separate administration by the Kuki-Zo organisations.
Congress MLA and former Speaker Thokchom Lokeshwar waded in, asking whether the BJP sent a troubleshooter (Mr. Patra) to resolve the ongoing crisis or “for some other reason”.
Meanwhile, the security forces caught four extremists belonging to two outlawed armed groups – the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak and the Kangleipak Communist Party (PWG) – from the Imphal Valley district on Wednesday (February 12, 2025). This follows the arrest of nine extremists on Tuesday (February 11, 2025).
