Back home after Delhi’s suggestion: The infighting continues

From June 4, 2019 to July 30, and the stalemate continues. And so does the confusion. At best the latest development may be said to be just another attempt to keep the issue at bay and not invite a Constitutional crisis if the monsoon session of the Assembly is not held by the first week of September. And so it is that the 14 rebel MLAs who have been camping for days at New Delhi have been persuaded to return to Manipur to attend the Assembly if and when it is convened. The rider to this is, the Ministry reshuffle or any change may be effected after the Assembly session. This is where it becomes a bit confusing in the sense that the demand of the rebel MLAs has been a change in leadership or a change of the Chief Minister and whether the reportedly proposed reshuffle also involves the post of the Chief Minister ! Not everything has been laid down in black and white, but there is more than enough substance to believe that the crisis is far from being satisfactorily addressed. Moreover can one really expect some significant change after the Assembly session ? It is anybody’s guess and the question of greater import is whether the change, if there is any, would satisfy the dissenting camp. If this is not the case then will Manipur witness another round of political jockeying with the Central leaders at New Delhi ? Or more importantly if the demand of the rebel MLAs is fulfilled, can one expect N Biren and his supporters to remain quiet and take everything in their stride ? Not a good sign for the BJP led Government. Not the first time that voices of dissent have been raised and this will not be last either, but it is significant to note that the voice of dissent has come even as the BJP rode back strongly to power after the recent Lok Sabha elections.
More than a month but no one seems to know why the rebel MLAs are so strongly against the leadership of Chief Minister N Biren. The Central leadership of the BJP must be in the know why the voice of dissent has been raised but the people, who really matter, do not seem to have any idea and so the internal tussle continues, with no one really knowing which way the wind will blow. Not something which Manipur can afford at this point of time when so many pressing issues are facing the State and the people on the face. So rebel MLAs have started returning to Imphal from Delhi, but the matter is yet to be resolved. This much is true and this is what will make the coming days all that more interesting. If there are indeed changes after the Assembly session then what changes can one expect ? How about the partnership of the BJP with its allies, the NPP and the NPF ? Can one expect any changes in the alliance worked out with the two coalition partners when the changes, as assured by Delhi, take place ? No easy answers here, but all important questions and posers which can impact on the stability of the BJP led Government. It will also be interesting to see the fate of the rogue Congress MLAs who have sidled up to the BJP when the Speaker’s Tribunal acts on the petitions filed by some Congress MLAs.