GUWAHATI: The rebellion against Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh is far from over.
BJP MLA, P Sharatchandra Singh, said 14 of the party’s 21 MLAs were not with the CM. He said they were seeking the change of leadership as the state’s coalition government had failed to deliver the goods to the people.
“We have 21 BJP MLAs in Manipur. At the time of elections two years ago, we had promised that we will ensure good governance, transform the rural areas of Manipur and achieve progress. Now, we have found that the state government hasn’t been able to meet the hopes and aspirations of the people,” Singh said.
He said after analyzing everything, the MLAs thought it was time to get change; change that is for the good.
“We have found that the solution lies in changing the BJP leadership. The resolve of majority BJP MLAs is that we should request the party’s national leadership to get the present leadership replaced,” Singh said.
He claimed that BJP allies National People’s Party and Naga People’s Front, which are constituents in the government, were also not happy with the present leadership and they suggested the immediate review of the leadership issue.
Stating that the present philosophy of BJP-led Central government is about cooperative federalism, he said it was imperative that the government met the aspirations of all alliance partners.
“There is a serious problem of disconnect. We are facing a problem in connecting the MLAs with ministers and the chief minister. That’s why, the government hasn’t been able to deliver the goods and fulfil its promises made to people. It is our responsibility to ensure that there is a good government in Manipur,” Singh added.
In the wake of dissidence, the lawmakers, including the CM, have been shunting between Imphal and New Delhi for the past few days. Minister and Manipur government spokesman, Th Radheshyam, recently played down the rebellion saying “we are a national party and a big family and as such, it is natural that there will be some problem or misunderstanding but we will resolve it soon”.