BJP stakes claim to form government in Manipur

In an interesting development on Sunday evening, the Congress’s Andro MLA Shyamkumar Singh, defected to BJP. He is expected to resign as MLA and seek re-election on BJP’s ticket.

GUWAHATI: After the day-long anxiety over the government formation in Manipur, where the election threw up a hung verdict with none of the two mainstream parties being able to cross the magic figure of 31 in the 60-member Assembly, the BJP succeeded in securing the support of some top leaders from Congress.

In an interesting development on Sunday evening, the Congress’s Andro MLA Shyamkumar Singh, defected to BJP. He is expected to resign as MLA and seek re-election on BJP’s ticket.

Once Shyamkumar resigns, the effective strength of the House will go down to 59. In that case, the BJP will need 30 seats to form government, which the party has already secured. 

The BJP met Governor Najma Heptulla at Raj Bhavan in the evening and staked claim to form the government claiming they have the number. The party submitted a list containing names of 31 MLAs. The 31st MLA was said to be Ashab Uddin, the Independent MLA.

According to unconfirmed reports, over a dozen other Congress MLAs and the lone Trinamool Congress legislator Tongbram Robindro Singh, too expressed their readiness to defect to BJP. However, the BJP leaders refused to share any details.

Newspaper editor-turned politician N Biren Singh is likely to be elected on Monday as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party. He is a former Congress minister. He defected to BJP last year after falling out with Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.

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