Projecting the next CM’s face Priority is a roadmap

Leaving aside the question of whether the return of a popular Government would make the situation better or not, it is significant to note that this is the first time that an MLA has publicly announced the name of a colleague as the leader to be backed. Lourembam Rameshwar, MLA from Keirao AC, needs no introduction to the people of Manipur in as much as where he stands, as far as the leadership question within the BJP legislators is concerned, but this is the first time that he has publicly gone ahead and announced that Speaker Th Satyabarta would be projected as the leader of the BJP MLAs. Meaning the man from Yaiskul AC would be backed as the Chief Minister, if and when the occasion demands it. This much is clear, but what is not clear is the stand of the other BJP MLAs. Do the other BJP MLAs back the stand of L Rameshwar or not ? Will the BJP Central leadership accept the public proclamation of an MLA ? Only time will tell, but important to remember that the BJP did not project anyone as the Chief Minister candidate in the 2017 Assembly election. The same approach was adopted in the 2022 Assembly polls. However this time there is no election and the question of projecting anyone as the CM candidate does not arise, but the projection of Satyabarta as the leader of the BJP MLAs, could mean so many things. In one statement, the Keirao AC MLA has made it clear that in the Speaker there is someone who can be projected as the next CM. Why this was not done so earlier has not been answered but it could mean the demand for the return of a popular Government has been given a renewed thrust with a BJP MLA being projected as the man to take on the hot seat. It could have just been an occasion, but at the same venue where the MLA publicly named Th Satyabarta as the man to be the next CM, the Speaker himself announced that some Central BJP leaders are expected to visit Manipur this month itself and this is something which would not have missed the eyes of the keen observers. Central leaders in town and convey to them that an MLA has been projected as the next CM and things seem to fall in place. No one knows how things will proceed in the coming days, but it should be clear that the demand to reinstall the popularly elected Government is growing louder. Top this with the open statement that if such a Government is not installed within November, then it would be better to go in for fresh elections and one can get a better understanding of the under current within the legislature wing of the State BJP. The longer the PR administration continues, the bleaker the prospects of the BJP in the next Assembly elections is another line that has been maintained and surely this is something which would not have missed the attention of the Central BJP leaders.
The equation spelt out is clear. Reinstate the popularly elected Government as soon as possible and give time to the BJP MLAs to go to the voters before 2027 so that the prospects of the saffron party can be maintained. This is the line that is clearly visible in the call for the return of a popular Government but the all important question has never ever been addressed and this is what is hard to miss. Okay let the popularly elected Government return, but what are the steps being mulled to take Manipur closer to the understanding of normalcy ? Remember the popularly elected Government was in power when May 3, 2023 came and it was there till February 13, 2025. Will the return of a popular Government help to address some of the pressing issues, issues which have paralysed Manipur since the evening of May 3, 2023 ? Has any roadmap to normalcy been charted out ? Will the return of a popular Government be able to exert the right pressure on New Delhi to help take Manipur to the road of normalcy ? The very fact that voices of opposition to the proposal to hold the Sangai Festival this year is growing louder is more than evident that normalcy is still a far cry away. Have the political leaders and the MLAs put their head together to ensure some semblance of normalcy ? None of these questions have been addressed to while raising the demand for the return of a popular Government and this says something significant. Or will just the return of a popular Government help take Manipur closer to the understanding of normalcy or will it be a question of going back to the pre-February 13, 2025 days ? These questions need to be asked.