Patra, Bhalla : Men of the moment :: Betraying folks of Manipur
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 13, 2025 -

The man, correction men, of the moment are undoubtedly BJP North East in-charge Sambit Patra and Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and for the fourth consecutive day, that is since the evening of February 9, the focus of everyone has been on the Raj Bhavan.

It is also a bit surprising that even after a chartered flight was arranged to take the then Chief Minister N Biren to Delhi on February 8 to return with the resignation letter on February 9, the Central leadership of the BJP is yet to zero in on a man who can go on to don the mantle of Chief Minister.

Likewise it is also a bit surprising that the dissident MLAs from within the BJP have so far not yet projected anyone as the man to be the next Chief Minister.

The result is the continuing stalemate with N Biren asked to continue as the caretaker Chief Minister.

The rule book obviously does not say how long a man can continue as the caretaker Chief Minister, but there must be a convention, a precedent where someone has been named as the caretaker Chief Minister.

Perhaps this may be taken as an example and one wonders why the Congress has not seized this opportunity to add more teeth to their stand when former Chief Minister O Ibobi went hammer and tongs against the saffron party of taking the people of Manipur for granted.

And definitely the former Chief Minister has a point or two in his observation. ‘Centre’s treatment of Manipur intolerable’, was the one line proclamation of the former Chief Minister and no one can fault him on this.

The CLP leader minced no word in asserting that if at all the Centre felt that removal of the Chief Minister is necessary, it could have been done at least one week earlier.

Asking the CM to step down, just one day before the Assembly was set to meet, reflects the utter contempt with which Delhi holds the people of Manipur, is the line maintained by the former Chief Minister.

If Delhi was wary of the impending no confidence motion sought to be moved by the Congress, once the Assembly meets, then what stopped it from summoning N Biren earlier, is the gist of the argument held by O Ibobi and while no one expects a straight forward answer from the BJP high command on this, Manipur feels betrayed.

And even as the BJP high command has failed to zero in on who could be made the next Chief Minister, speculations have been doing the round on the exact status of the Assembly itself.

Has Manipur come under a state of suspended animation or is Delhi toying around with ideas and suggestions to deal with this question and move ahead ?

Or as initially conveyed, is Delhi more concerned with restoring a state of normalcy while keeping aside the question of ‘who will be the next CM ?’

Raj Bhavan and this has been the destination for many BJP MLAs and Sambit Patra since the evening of February 9 and it should be obvious to all that Delhi will act or respond to the unfolding situation according to the feedbacks it receives from AK Bhalla.

The only thing is, no one is sure on the feedbacks that the Raj Bhavan has been conveying to the Union Home Ministry.

This is where the uncertainty of where Manipur is heading towards is so much reminiscent of the days when there was a cloud of doubt and uncertainty over whether Article 355 has been invoked in Manipur or not.

Or better still on the status of the Suspension of the Operation pact.

The uncertainty continues, but what is certain is that this climate of uncertainty is nothing short of playing around with the sentiments of the people of Manipur.

And this is where one is inclined to go back to the observation and proclamation of former Chief Minister O Ibobi. The timing could not have just been a co-incidence, as the former Chief Minister said.

Barely 24 hours after Manipur went up in flames on May 3, 2023, the Centre appointed former IPS officer Kuldiep Singh as the Security Advisor.

The Centre acted promptly back then and the natural question is, why has it taken more than three days to name the next Chief Minister ?

This is a loaded question for in many ways it reflects the indifference of Delhi to the crisis that has gripped Manipur for nearly two years now.