Imphal: Manipur Democratic Alliance (MDA) has ruled out speculation about extension of President’s Rule in Manipur and expressed confidence on formation of a new popular government by the first week of August,
“There is no question of extending President’s Rule or dissolving the existing government. Most central leaders, including those from the NDA (National Democratic Alliance), Shiv Sena, and a Union minister, have assured me that a popular government is expected to take shape in early August,” MDA convenor M.Tombi said while talking to reporters at his office, here on Saturday.
The MDA, a coalition of 10 political parties aligned with the NDA at the Centre, claimed that the state is on track to restore an elected government before the end of the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament, which runs from July 21 to August 21.
Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13, 2024, after N. Biren Singh resigned as chief minister, amid prolonged ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2022 accompanied with political instability.
Tombi blamed the delay in government formation on a section of MLAs who he alleged were “Selfish and power-hungry”. He urged all political parties to cooperate in restoring democratic governance instead of stoking a leadership crisis.
In a related development, Shiv Sena, an alliance partner of the MDA and the NDA, issued a four-point demand. The party called for the immediate formation of a popular government, rehabilitation of internally displaced persons in their original locations, free movement on national highways in accordance with Union Home minister Amit Shah’s March 8 directive, and a halt to the delimitation process based on the ‘bogus’ 2011 census.
The issue of illegal immigrants must be resolved ahead of the national delimitation process scheduled for 2026. No delimitation exercise should be proceeded in Manipur until the immigration issue is fully addressed, Tombi said.
