Posers over summons to Delhi More room for speculations

    04-Feb-2025
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The BJP has the number and it is only the Congress which has so far been sitting on the Opposition bench with just 5 MLAs. This is how the maths work out at the moment and Delhi knows this too. The question then is, why should Union Home Minister think it fit to ‘invite’ some prominent members of the BJP to Delhi and give instructions to ensure that the coming Assembly session passes off smoothly ? Can’t really say if there has been such a precedent earlier, but as far as The Sangai Express can recall this is perhaps the first time that the Union Home Minister has summoned a Speaker, prominent leaders of the Government who are not deemed to be close to the Chief Minister to ostensibly tell them ‘to ensure that the coming Assembly session is held without a hitch.’ First the Speaker and now RD and PR Minister Yumnam Khemchand, a man who has spared no words in airing his thoughts against the conduct of the Chief Minister, and this is what has led many keen observers of the political developments in the State to speculate on the exact reason for the summons to Delhi. It should also not be forgotten that at least one BJP MLA is understood to have ‘camped’ at Delhi for quite some time now and given the unfolding scenario many have started reading between the lines at the ‘staying at Delhi’ note. As mentioned in an earlier commentary here, it is too early to say how things will unfold in the coming days, but theories have started doing the round over the Assembly session which is scheduled to start from February 10. Making things more interesting is the announcement of Assembly Speaker Th Satyabrata just the other day that the 6 NPP MLAs would be made to sit on the Opposition bench. The equation then means that there will at least be 11 MLAs on the Opposition, including the five from the Congress. What course of action can one expect from the Speaker with regard to the disqualification case moved by the Congress against the five MLAs who were earlier elected as JD (U) candidates but later switched to the BJP ? Just a question at the moment, but sooner or later this case too would have to be taken up but the matter of greater importance is the point that not everything seems right with the BJP led Government at the moment, with even talks doing the round that the Congress is likely to move a no trust motion.
The Congress knows they do not have the number,  but if at all such a motion is moved, then does it say something significant about the position of the man heading the BJP led Government ? It would be foolhardy to hazard a guess on the likely development, but whatever the case it may be, what stands true is that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has taken a keen interest just before the Assembly session is held.  And the interest shown by the Union Home Minister is what has created more rooms for speculations to fly thick and fast. What however is there for one and all to see, read and hear is that the Congress has not lightly taken to the proclamation of Chief Minister N Biren some days back when he said ‘if anyone moves a no confidence motion against the Government, people will hound them and they will not be able to live in their own house’. The stand of the Congress can be better understood in the memorandum submitted to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, urging him to rein in the conduct of the Chief Minister. Interestingly in the same address, the video clip of which has been spread widely, the Chief Minister also took a swipe at such reports maintaining that it could have been filed under a ‘spell of speculations’. What however is beyond speculation is the summon of Assembly Speaker and Yumnam Khemchand by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Delhi ahead of the start of the coming Assembly session and this is what is interesting.