BJP leader Sambit Patra. File.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Amid a political crisis in strife-torn Manipur, senior BJP leader Sambit Patra on Wednesday (February 12, 2025) morning called on Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan, sources said.
They held discussions for some time but the outcome of the meeting is not yet known.
Mr. Patra, the BJP’s Northeast in-charge, later headed for a hotel, where he is likely to meet party MLAs during the day.
A BJP delegation led by Mr. Patra had on Tuesday met Mr. Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan amid a leadership crisis following the resignation of N. Biren Singh as the chief minister of the ethnic violence-hit state on February 9.
Meanwhile, experts have warned that with no one staking claim to form the government so far, the BJP-ruled Manipur may head towards a constitutional crisis.
If the situation remains so, the state is likely to be under President’s rule, they said.
Senior Supreme Court Advocate Arunabh Chowdhury told PTI, “In Manipur, the assembly is a live one… It is not under suspended animation or President’s Rule. It is mandatory to hold assembly sessions as per the Supreme Court order. Obviously, it will lead to a big constitutional crisis.”
There is no provision in Article 174 saying that this can be extended or be condoned beyond six months, he said.
Article 174 says that the Governor shall from time to time summon the House or each House of the Legislature of a state to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.
After six months, it will lead to a constitutional deadlock and the President’s Rule under Article 356 is the only option, Mr. Chowdhury said.
Article 356 of the Constitution gives the President the power to impose this rule on a state on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers.
Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had on February 9 resigned from his post and Governor A.K. Bhalla accepted the same. He requested the Chief Minister to continue in office until alternative arrangements are made.
The Governor has already declared the seventh session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly, which was set to commence on February 10, as null and void.
The last session of the assembly in the restive state concluded on August 12, 2024.
More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.
Published – February 12, 2025 01:25 pm IST