Moving fast but to which direction Suspense over suspension
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Moving at breakneck speed but no one knows towards which direction Manipur is galloping. Three days after N Biren put in his paper to Governor AK Bhalla and the same was accepted, no one seems to know who is likely to be named the next Chief Minister. This has however not stopped the hectic behind the scene activities and as anticipated earlier, Raj Bhavan is the place to keep one’s eyes and ears glued. And even as BJP MLAs landed at Raj Bhavan, one after the other, speculations started doing the round on whether Manipur has been put under suspended animation or whether the Assembly is set to be dissolved, necessitating President’s Rule and later a fresh Assembly election. Even as this commentary is being penned down, a clear cut picture is yet to emerge but it is clear that the focus of Manipur has shifted from the ongoing ethnic clash between the Meiteis and the Kukis to the ongoing round of politics involving the who is who of the State. Lording over the hectic behind the door political activities is obviously BJP’s trouble shooter Sambit Patra who is also in charge of the North East. Interesting to note too that just one day earlier, that is on February 10, 2025, Patra met a number of BJP legislators and in the series of meetings not much attention was paid on who would be named the next Chief Minister but on how to go about putting Manipur on the road of normalcy. This obviously gives the impression that the first priority of Delhi is to ensure normalcy in Manipur while the question of deciding who should be the next Chief Minister can be dealt with at a more opportune moment. There will be many takers for this line of approach, for what Manipur needs at the moment is some sincere efforts towards ushering in normalcy not who gets to occupy the hot seat. And this is where question arises on what Delhi has been doing in the last 24 months to deal with the situation. No easy answer here, for it is more than obvious that despite the promises to fence the Indo- Myanmar border and do away with the Free Movement Regime, the overall understanding that Delhi is not doing anything worthwhile to resolve the crisis continues to hang heavy. This question will continue to hang heavy, despite the change in leadership-read Chief Minister-and it would be interesting to see how the new incumbent intends to deal with this point if and when he or she is named for the hot seat.
The final word is yet to be said even as this commentary is being written, but all point to the indication that the State Assembly may be put under suspended anima- tion. This probability falls in line with fact that even after three days since N Biren was asked to step down, not much has been heard about who is most likely to be named the next Chief Minister. Or no move is heard of anyone from amongst the BJP legislators of throwing in their hat in the leadership ring. And if the Assembly is going to be kept under suspended animation, can one expect things to move towards normalcy ? A question which must be uppermost in the mind of the people and this should make the question, why was Biren asked to step down, more relevant now ? Was he asked to step down because a large number of the BJP legislators had raised the banner of revolt or was it because of his seeming failure to deal with the situation ? These two posers may be interdependent, meaning one answer may be linked to the other and the Centre should make the purpose of asking Biren to step down meaningful to the people. And if the Assembly is to be kept under suspended animation, then it would mean that Delhi is not willing to take chances with any of the present lot of BJP legislators and would like to be in the saddle to start the process of putting Manipur on the track of normalcy. Ultimately to the people, it is not so much a question of whether the Assembly is under suspended animation or not, but to restore normalcy. Create a situation where the Meiteis would feel free to take the road while travelling to Dimapur and the Kukis would feel free to return to the place they once called home at Imphal. Wonder if Delhi is up to this task or not. The coming days will give an inkling to the answer.
The final word is yet to be said even as this commentary is being written, but all point to the indication that the State Assembly may be put under suspended anima- tion. This probability falls in line with fact that even after three days since N Biren was asked to step down, not much has been heard about who is most likely to be named the next Chief Minister. Or no move is heard of anyone from amongst the BJP legislators of throwing in their hat in the leadership ring. And if the Assembly is going to be kept under suspended animation, can one expect things to move towards normalcy ? A question which must be uppermost in the mind of the people and this should make the question, why was Biren asked to step down, more relevant now ? Was he asked to step down because a large number of the BJP legislators had raised the banner of revolt or was it because of his seeming failure to deal with the situation ? These two posers may be interdependent, meaning one answer may be linked to the other and the Centre should make the purpose of asking Biren to step down meaningful to the people. And if the Assembly is to be kept under suspended animation, then it would mean that Delhi is not willing to take chances with any of the present lot of BJP legislators and would like to be in the saddle to start the process of putting Manipur on the track of normalcy. Ultimately to the people, it is not so much a question of whether the Assembly is under suspended animation or not, but to restore normalcy. Create a situation where the Meiteis would feel free to take the road while travelling to Dimapur and the Kukis would feel free to return to the place they once called home at Imphal. Wonder if Delhi is up to this task or not. The coming days will give an inkling to the answer.