Parleys for Govt formation bid to pacify public
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: May 07, 2025 -

THE two-day visit of BJP national spokesperson and Odisha MP Sambit Patra days after 21 legislators of the party and its allies proposed to the Prime Minister and the Union home minister reinstatement of a popular government drives home the message that the central leaderships are not averse to facilitating formation of a new government, that is if there is unity among the legislators.

As the BJP national leaders are certain to be well aware about the circumstances that led to the imposition of President's Rule in the state and won't want repetition of the same situation, it is obvious that the series of meetings between Sambit Patra and BJP MLAs, especially former chief minister N Biren and Kuki legislators Vungzagin Valte and LM Khaute, were aimed at ironing out the differences among the party's MLAs and ensuring that there is consensus on the chief ministerial candidate.

Though failure to resolve the on-going Kuiki-Meetei conflict was one of the factors for the central government bringing the state under the President's Rule and keeping the assembly under suspended, animation, the lack of consensus among the BJP MLAs on who should replace N Biren as the chief minister after the latter tendered resignation left no other option than to impose the President's Rule (PR).

Even if there seems to be no urgent need for withdrawal of the PR, promulgation of which has resulted in cessation of violence, the BJP central leaders' nod to exploring means for reinstating a popular government seems to be in acknowledgement of the apprehension among the MLAs and workers over waning popularity of the saffron party.

With neither the centre nor the state government able to contain the violence prior to imposition of the PR, the party legislators and workers are under intense public pressure and scrutiny. In fact, the protracted unrest situation is akin to trial by fire for party workers at the grassroots level.

The violent clashes might have ceased for the time being but the failure to restore normalcy in the real sense is having demoralising effect on the party workers. Regardless of party's state leaders, including the then chief minister, attributing outbreak of the violence to the government's crackdown against illegal immigrants, encroachment in reserved forests and narcotic drugs, with the ultimate objective to secure the future generations, the fact remains that the commoners are passing through one of the most distressful days.

Notably, BJP leaders' assurance that the centre is leaving no stone unturned to restore normalcy and implementing centrally-funded developmental projects and welfare schemes in the state hasn't been able to impress the people, especially those in relief camps.

Thus, as commented in this column earlier, whether or not a popular government is reinstalled wouldn't matter much to the general population as long as there are no violent incidents related to the Kuki-Meetei conflict.

Hence, unless the conflict has been resolved amicably, the general population would construe move by the BJP legislators and their alliance partners to form a new government as a desperate attempt to deflect the shift in public narrative from violence to scrutinising inability of the BJP and its allies to convince the central leaders on the urgent need for restoring peace in the state.