Unfolding drama and news from Delhi Adding to the confusion

It is getting more and more confusing and at the same time interestingly intriguing as well. Even as the BJP in Manipur has been maintaining that there are no official inputs on who has been named the next Chief Minister, this has not stopped a number of reports from New Delhi in quoting ‘reliable sources’ that N Biren Singh has been retained as the Chief Minister. Nothing official about it, but reports have come in from New Delhi that Manipur will not see a new Chief Minister, meaning N Biren will continue as the Chief Minister in innings number 2 of the BJP Government here at Imphal. So nothing official so far but this has not stopped tongues from wagging, which in the process has created more confusion. The only thing that is clear is that the two contenders for the top post are still at Delhi with reports coming in that they will be returning on March 17 in separate flights. Amidst the uncertainty on who will be named the next Chief Minister, what is crystal clear is that the two contenders must have put up their respective cases strongly and it is obvious that they enjoy backing from powerful cliques within the saffron party. Race for leadership. It is also clear that winning the Assembly election, which the BJP did comfortably, was just part of the game that went in to decide who would be King for the next five years. So even as reports have come in from New Delhi that N Biren has been retained as the Chief Minister, some from within the State unit of the saffron party have questioned the authenticity of the report, raising more questions than answers. The politicking for the top job is surely turning out to be much more complex than the poll battle plans that must have been drawn up to pulverise the Congress in the just conducted Assembly election. It also needs to be kept in mind that even as the report that Manipur will not see a new Chief Minister went viral on the social media with different groups sharing the report, Observer Nirmala Sitharaman and Co-Observer Kiren Rijiju are yet to arrive at Imphal to study the situation and talk with all the BJP legislators. The picture is as hazy as it was before N Biren, Th Biswajit and State BJP president A Sharda Devi left for New Delhi on March 15.
The Imphal based media on the other hand has to tread the fine line, read the situation and be extra vigilant, which at times can be interesting as well as exasperating. With so many contradictory reports and inputs flooding into the office of the major newspaper houses at Imphal, it has become extremely difficult to separate the chaff from the grain, but the job has to be performed albeit with extra care. Given the way the situation has been unfolding the present state of uncertainty may continue for some more days, that is probably after the Central appointed Observer and Co-Observer arrive, which may be after the Holi festival. Absolute majority for the BJP, but the drama is far from over, it is obvious and  the question is whether the matter will be resolved once the BJP high command decides on a name. Will it end there or can Manipur expect to see more political churnings in the second innings of the BJP Government ? A valid question this is, but an answer will not be forthcoming. As noted earlier, Manipur has already witnessed such power tussle in the past and this is not the first time. This will not be the last time either and if the present is any indication, the threat to the BJP Government may come from within and not from any outside force. This is the type of politics that has become synonymous with Manipur for quite some time now.