GUWAHATI: The fate of seven Manipur Congress MLAs hangs in the balance as the Speaker’s tribunal will hear disqualification petitions against them on May 8.
The matter has been already listed.
Ostensibly to mount pressure on Speaker Y Khemchand, the opposition Congress on Saturday announced that it would file a disqualification petition in the Supreme Court against the seven MLAs who had sided with the BJP and are supporting the state's BJP-led coalition government.
The announcement was made by party MLA Keisham Meghachandra Singh.
Congress spokesman Ningombam Bupenda Meitei tweeted: "Time has come for the Speaker to uphold the integrity to protect our Constitution by honouring its 10th Schedule, both in spirit and action."
When the Speaker hears the petitions, what will be at the back of his mind is a recent judgment of the apex court. After hearing a disqualification petition filed by Congress MLAs Meghachandra and Fajur Rahim, the Supreme Court had in March this year stripped the state's Cabinet Minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar Singh of his office and banned his entry into the Assembly. Subsequently, the Speaker had disqualified Shyamkumar as a member of the Assembly.
The Congress said in the Keisham Meghachandra Singh versus Manipur Assembly Speaker and others case, the SC gave a maximum period of three months for the Speaker to decide on all pending matters under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.
But even if the seven MLAs are disqualified, the N Biren Singh government will not be reduced to a minority. In the 60-member Manipur House that now has an effective strength of 59, BJP and allies have 39 members and Congress 20.
The Congress is optimistic about forming the government with support from BJP's current allies. Ironically, the party could not retain power despite emerging as the single largest party with 28 MLAs in the 2017 elections. The BJP had won 21 seats but still managed to cobble up the numbers.