BJP actually has the support of 23 members – 18 BJP deputies, four NPF and one LJP. (FILE)
Guwahati:
At least nine lawmakers have decided to withdraw support for the BJP-led Biren Singh government in Manipur, which would deprive it of a majority in the National Assembly, sources in the State Congress said. It will also cause major problems for the BJP before Rajya Sabha is elected to the state on June 19.
Among the nine deputies who decided to withdraw their support, four belong to the National People’s Party or NPP led by Conrad Sangma. Among them, Chief Deputy Minister Y Joykumar Singh, Ministers N Kayisii, L Jayanta Kumar Singh and Letpao Haokip, who have resigned from their ministerial posts and withdrawn their support for the government.
Three BJP deputies – S Subhashchandra Singh, TT Haokip and Samuel Jendai – resigned from the party and joined Congress tonight in the state capital, Imphal.
Besides them, the only member for Trinamool, member of Parliament T Robindro Singh, and independent member of Parliament Shahabuddin have also withdrawn their support for the BJP, added sources.
The sudden instability of the government follows the decision of the High Court of Manipur to prohibit the entry of the seven deputies of the Congress who passed to the BJP in 2017. They will not be able to vote in the polls of Rajya Sabha.
Previous MLA Congress Th. Shyamkumar Singh, who supported the BJP-led government and was appointed cabinet minister, was disqualified. The petition to disqualify the other seven coatings from Congress is before the court of President Khemchand Singh.
In 2017 Assembly polls, Congress became the largest of the 60 members with 28 seats, the BJP won 21 seats. But the BJP was able to whip up numbers by getting the support of four NPPs, four NPFs, one LJP, one TMC, one independent member and one coat of Congress. After the Biren Singh government was formed, seven other congressional deputies also supported him.
With the disqualification of Th. Shyamkumar Singh and seven other Congress deputies blocked by the court for the Rajya Sabha elections, the effective membership of the Assembly is now 52.
The BJP does indeed have the support of 23 members – 18 BJP deputies since three resigned, four NPFs and one member of the LJP.
Congress has 20, — one member was disqualified and seven rebels were expelled. If it obtains the support of the nine deputies who have withdrawn the support of the government of Biren Singh, the Congress will have the support of 29 deputies.
