Drama over two resignations : Live video footages
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 19, 2023 -

Two resignations, set apart by just a few days, and this has set tongues wagging.

One resignation could have been taken as par for the course given that this is a democracy and not all elected members could be expected to be satisfied with how they are accommodated.

But two resignations, one coming after the other with just a few days setting them apart, and surely there is ground for tongues to start wagging.

Suddenly the focus of the people seems to have shifted from the War on Drugs campaign, the call to conduct a National Register of Citizens (NRC), the eviction drive at Protected and Reserved Forest etc to now the resignation of two prominent MLAs of the BJP from the political posts they were entrusted with and suddenly there is a certain sense of deja vu, a feeling which ran rife during the first stint of the BJP led Government after the 2017 Assembly elections.

Add the live video footages that have been released by the two MLAs while resigning from the post they were given and things could not have been as dramatic as the current political situation.

Adding grist to the rumour mill is the report that has come in of some MLAs camping at Delhi to meet Central leaders and press for a change in leadership at Imphal.

It is not only the two disgruntled MLAs who have taken recourse to the social media to vent their disappointment against the leadership at Imphal, for a status put up by another MLA, obviously in favour of Chief Minister N Biren, has also gone viral on the social media.

And if rumours and speculations are doing the round, then it is not surprising to see ‘unconfirmed’ reports of so and so many MLAs camping at Delhi to spell out their disenchantment against the present leadership at Imphal.

The number of MLAs camping at Delhi has been put at anywhere between 5 and 12 with some even going to the extent of proclaiming more resignations are in line along with posts on the social media.

What however has emerged clearly in the two video clips put up by Th Radheshyam and Karam Shyam, is the line, ‘Given political appointments but never consulted and never given any responsibility.’

In other words this means the appointment is only in name and is in a way a sham to hoodwink the people, something they cannot continue to befool the people of their respective Assembly Constituencies.

Another prominent point spelt out or alleged by Langthabal AC MLA Karam Shyam in his video clip was the claim that the contract work for setting up a cafeteria near the memorial complex of Maharaj Gambhir Singh at Langthabal was awarded to a relative/friend of the Chief Minister.

This is a serious charge. If the relative part has any substance, then it would go against ‘anti-family politics’ of the BJP.

And if the ‘friend’ part is true then it would give more muscle to the allegations of the Congress that the BJP has been promoting crony capitalism.

The amount for the contract is just Rs 30 lakh, but it is not the amount that is important here, but the question of using political clout to decide who the contract work is awarded to.

This is where the seriousness of Karam Shyam’s allegation lies.

How the matter would be settled is something which only time can tell, but it should be more than clear that not everything is right and hereby hangs the question of what is in there for Manipur, particularly at this point of time when so many issues are staring the State and the people in the face.

Internal affairs of the BJP is a line that may be used by some, but when voices of discontentment and disappointment are raised, then it is bound to unsettle things which ought to figure high on the priority of the Government and the people.

Ironic it is that a party which has 32 MLAs in the House of 60 should be facing its first acid test during its second stint in office not from the Congress or it allies but from some disappointed and ‘slighted’ BJP MLAs.

With so many ‘theories’ doing the round, the question is, ‘Will there be more resignations from some BJP MLAs in the coming days ?’