No idea who would be CM: Biren, Biswajit, Sharda
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, March 17 2022: Caretaker CM N Biren Singh, former works minister Th Biswajit and BJP Manipur Pradesh president A Sharda Devi returned to the state on Thursday after meeting with central leaders of BJP at the national capital.

However, on the issue of who the next Chief Minister of Manipur would be, all three leaders gave similar responses, stating that they do not know who the leader of the state government will be, but that it would be decided when the BJP central observers arrived in the state after the Holi festival and a swearing-in ceremony would be held accordingly.

It may be recalled here that Biren, Biswajit and Sharda were summoned to New Delhi by the BJP central leaders on March 15.At Delhi, Biren met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP National president JP Nadda, Union Home minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath, and other central leaders on Wednesday, in addition to taking part in the celebration of BJP's win in Manipur, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

All three state leaders then returned to Imphal on Thursday.

Th Biswajit arrived first around 9 am, while caretaker CM N Biren and party president A Sharda landed around 2pm.Khurai AC MLA L Susindro (Yaima), who won on BJP ticket, also returned along with them.

Commenting on the news publicised in national media of his re appointment to the post of CM and circulated by different sources, Biren said that the news report in national media was fabricated.

Stating that BJP is a disciplined party, Biren said he along with the other two state leaders was in Delhi to attend a review meeting of the assembly elections, not a meeting of the parliamentary board.

The parliamentary board meeting was convened for PM Modi and other central leaders only.

Regarding the next CM of the state, Binin said that the decision is to be taken by parliamentary board.

However, no official announcement has been made by the party and the same has not been informed to him as well.

For the formation of the new government, the party has already appointed national observers.

Nonetheless, all will adhere to the decision taken by the party.

As such, he urged all concerned not to allow any apprehensions to develop within the party because of the fabricated news in the media.

Meanwhile, Th Biswajit stated that all three of them went to Delhi to take part in the celebration of the party's victory in the polls along with the central BJP leaders.

In addition, a review meeting was organised to discuss the upcoming parliamentary election in 2024 .

However, no discussion was held regarding formation of the new government and both sides did not bring up the matter either.

He also reiterated that the decision on the next CM of the state is to be taken by the parliamentary board, while stating that the news published on national media on Wednesday was cooked up, especially as the party has not made any official announcement on the matter.

Regarding the delay in the formation of the new government, Biswajit said that it could be due to the central BJP leaders being fully occupied.

The parliamentary board is holding its sessions and the Holi festival is also coming up.

Thus, the central observers are likely to come to Manipur after the Holi festival, after which they will meet with the successful legislators and decide on who the next leader of the government would be.

Additionally, there is no difference of opinions or groupism within BJP, he contended.

On reports that N Biren may get a second term as the chief minister, he said it was speculation.

Echoing a similar response with that of N Biren and Biswajit, BJP Manipur Pradesh president Sharda iterated that no official document or indication has been received from the centre on who the next CM will be or who the leader of the legislative wing would be.

The matter would be decided only after the arrival of the BJP central observers to the state.

Regarding bursting of firecrackers at Thambal Shanglen here by some party members on Wednesday, Sharda said that the members did so under the assumption that the process for formation of the new government had been completed.

This has nothing to do with division within the party, if any, as is being claimed, she stated.

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