Ministry reshuffle likely within April 10
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 31 2016: The uproar raised by 23 Congress MLAs may be quelled by reshuffling the existing Ministry led by Chief Minister O Ibobi within April 10 .

Even though a new MPCC president has been appointed by AICC, the bickering within Congress party has not been settled yet.

It looks like only Ministry reshuffle is a plausible solution to the issue, informed well placed sources.

Strict adherence to the Congress party's principle of 'one man, one post' and Ministry reshuffle are the two main demands of the dissident MLAs.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the Chief Minister held a meeting with the 23 rebel MLAs today on their demand for Ministry reshuffle at 4 pm today.

During the meeting the dissident MLAs demanded that barring the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, reshuffle should be effected for the remaining 10 Ministers and the Speaker.

Talking to The Sangai Express a well placed source said that to discuss the demand for a reshuffle, Chief Minister O Ibobi and MPCC president TN Haokip will leave for Delhi on April 2 to discuss the issue with AICC president Sonia Gandhi.

The 23 MLAs seem not satisfied with the replacement of Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam by MLA TN Haokip as MPCC president.

The MLAs have been demanding replacement of the entire Council of Ministers with the exception of Chief Minister O Ibobi.

They have made it clear that at least six MLAs who had never held Ministerial portfolios should be inducted into the new Council of Ministers and the Chief Minister may appoint incumbent Ministers to the remaining Ministerial posts.

But the Chief Minister finds it very tricky to decide who should be removed from the Council of Ministers and which MLAs should be inducted, said the sources.

Notably, former Ministers who are among the 23 rebel MLAs stated that they were not craving after Ministerial posts.

Nonetheless, a Ministry reshuffle is quite likely in view of BJP's growth in the State, the impending election to Imphal Municipal Corporation and the negative impacts Congress party will suffer in case the voice of dissent is allowed to linger on.

Whereas the rebel MLAs have been demanding induction of six of them into the Council of Ministers, only four or five of them are likely to be inducted.

Meanwhile, another source informed that the forthcoming IMC election would be an acid test for TN Haokip, the new MPCC president.

Even though TN Haokip is qualified for the post of MPCC president, Congress party would find it difficult to repeat the spectacular performance it gave in the last Assembly election in view of the changing political matrix.

If one takes into account the victory of BJP candidates over their Congress rivals in the by-election to two Assembly segments and the decent score achieved by BJP in the Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat elections held last year, there is no guarantee that any candidate fielded by Congress will win election.

Notably, Congress won 42 seats in the last Assembly election.

Their number swelled to 47 after MSCP merged with Congress party along with their five MLAs.

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