Making a beeline for Delhi Making a comeback ?
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December 13, 2025 and February 2, 2026. The sense of deja vu is unmistakable for the common thread running through the two dates is more or less the same-return of a popular Government. Nearly 60 days back, a number of BJP MLAs including ex-Chief Minister N Biren and Speaker of the Assembly Th Satyabarta made a beeline for Delhi to highlight the need for the popular Government to return. Back then, the BJP MLAs returned with a sense of optimism that the Centre would pave the way for the return of the popularly elected Government, and this sense of optimism reportedly came after a meeting with Sambit Patra and BL Santosh. Nearly 60 days have passed since the ‘last visit’ to Delhi and this time too, the air is thick with anticipation that the popular Government would indeed return. The anticipation continues, even as this commentary is beind penned down, and from the little information that has been received from Delhi, a meeting of BJP MLAs with Central leaders has been planned at the office of the saffron party at Delhi at 3 pm tomorrow. Another meeting of MLAs from the NDA partners has also been lined up at Manipur Bhavan, Sardar Patel Marg tomorrow at 4 pm. Meetings lined up, but it is still not very clear whether the meeting with BJP MLAs at the party’s office will be followed by the ‘final round’ of meeting on Government formation or not. Interesting to note too that no one seems to know who the BJP MLAs from Manipur are scheduled to meet at the BJP party office during the meeting scheduled tomorrow. Is it going to be Sambit Patra and BL Santosh, as was the case earlier, or will there be other Central leaders ? Interesting to note too is the latest report that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma along with another MLA from Manipur have reached Delhi today evening (February 2). How much one can read into this is best left to the imagination of the people, but remember Assam is going to polls sometime in April this year and Sarma may have reasons strictly pertaining to the election in his home State, yet at the same time, it should not be forgotten that he is the convenor of NEDA which lives by the slogan ‘Congress Mukt’. So Assam Chief Minister too heading to Delhi, sigificantly with one BJP MLA from Manipur giving room for speculations and more speculations to fly thick and fast. And the speculations will continue until the final outcome of the meeting scheduled on February 3 at the BJP office comes to the public domain. From the little information that has been received from Delhi, some of the Kuki-Zo MLAs of the BJP are expected to take part in the meeting with Central leaders at the office of the BJP on February 3.
The speculations, the talks doing the round and the focus of the people all revolve around the question, ‘When will the popular Government be allowed to return.’ Question at the moment, but the reality is, the longer PR continues, the more the standing of the BJP in Manipur will get eroded. The Central leaders of the BJP would certainly not like this and the State BJP leaders must have left no stone unturned to convey this to the Central leaders. The only question which has not done the round is whether the return of the popular Government would make things better for Manipur. This is the question Manipur should be raising now, but true to its characteristic no one has raised this. All just seem too pre-occupied with the question of whether a popular Government would be reinstated or not and who the next Chief Minister is likely to be. Questions which should be raised whether the Delhi trip paves the return of a popular Government or whether PR continues. If the popularly elected Government returns, can it work harder to ensure that the March 31 timeframe given by Chief Secertary PK Goel to resettle 40,000 IDPs comes to fruition ? More importantly can the return of the popular Government work harder towards this end ? How about opening the National Highways ? Can the return of the popular Government take steps to ensure free movement of all ? These are questions that should be raised even as the return of the popular Government seems more and more likely.
The speculations, the talks doing the round and the focus of the people all revolve around the question, ‘When will the popular Government be allowed to return.’ Question at the moment, but the reality is, the longer PR continues, the more the standing of the BJP in Manipur will get eroded. The Central leaders of the BJP would certainly not like this and the State BJP leaders must have left no stone unturned to convey this to the Central leaders. The only question which has not done the round is whether the return of the popular Government would make things better for Manipur. This is the question Manipur should be raising now, but true to its characteristic no one has raised this. All just seem too pre-occupied with the question of whether a popular Government would be reinstated or not and who the next Chief Minister is likely to be. Questions which should be raised whether the Delhi trip paves the return of a popular Government or whether PR continues. If the popularly elected Government returns, can it work harder to ensure that the March 31 timeframe given by Chief Secertary PK Goel to resettle 40,000 IDPs comes to fruition ? More importantly can the return of the popular Government work harder towards this end ? How about opening the National Highways ? Can the return of the popular Government take steps to ensure free movement of all ? These are questions that should be raised even as the return of the popular Government seems more and more likely.