Bhartiya Janata Party has submitted a list of 32 MLAs to governor Najma Heptullah on Sunday with the letter of support from the regional parties and claimed the stake to form government in Manipur, which has 60 assembly seats.
Bhartiya Janata Party was the second biggest party in Manipur with 21 seats. However, it claims to have support from National People’s Party and Naga People’s Front, which have 4 MLAs each. 1 MLA from Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the only independent MLA Ashab Uddin came in support of BJP and T Robindro Singh, who contested polls on Trinamool’s ticket also gave his support to BJP, which now has become the coalition with majority in the state.
With an interesting move, current CM of Manipur, Ibobi Singh also met the governor and staked his claim to allow congress to form government on the basis of being the single largest party in the state. He also called BJP opportunistic while interacting with media.
While the group of MLAs met the governor, it had a few faces which raised eyebrows. It had a couple of Congress MLAs, however, the list of supporting MLAs did not feature their names. Congress also alleged BJP for trying to split the party.
BJP Leader Ram Madhav Singh spoke to the media over the topic of government formation in the state. He stated that the party has support of 11 other MLAs, taking the number to 32 which is a comfortable majority stake. He also added that people have voted against Congress and the current chief minister and that BJP will prove majority in the house.
In the election which concluded, BJP surprised everyone with a vote share of 36.3%. In 2012, the party was unable to win even a single seat and now it has 21 won seats with outer support enough to form the government. Congress had a vote share of 35% and won 28 seats, however, it seems to be a touch task for the current government to even manage 3 outside seats.
Among the popular names in the contention to become Chief Minister, BJP General Secretary Thongam Biswajit Singh and N Biren Singh are front runners.
Congress doesn’t seem to write off its chances just yet. After the party elected Ibobi Singh as the leader of legislature party, spokesperson Debabrata Singh said that the party will soon present its list to the governor.