A crucial one-day session of the Manipur Assembly is scheduled to be held on Monday as legislators will vote on a confidence motion moved by state Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
Both the BJP and the Congress have issued whips to their MLAs and have asked them to be present during the trust vote, which will decide the fate of the BJP-led coalition government in Manipur.
The coalition government in the state plunged into a serious political crisis on June 17 after the four-member NPP (National People's Party), the sole Trinamool Congress MLA, and an Independent MLA withdrew their support while three BJP MLAs quit the party and joined the Congress.
The nine-day-long political crisis ended with the intervention of Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President J.P. Nadda, Meghalaya Chief Minister and NPP national President Conrad K. Sangma and Assam Minister and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The spokesperson of the opposition Congress in Manipur, Ningombam Bupenda Meitei, said that instead of accepting the no-confidence motion moved by the Congress, the Manipur Legislative Assembly has accepted the motion of confidence moved by BJP government.
"The Congress is confident to defeat the motion. The Congress has already issued whip to all its 24 MLAs to be present in the house and vote against the confidence motion. We would defeat the trust vote moved by the government. We would convert the people's true mandate of 2017 into reality," the Congress spokesperson said.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, the Congress emerged as the single largest party securing 28 seats, but the BJP, which bagged 21 seats, stitched a coalition government with the support of four NPP members, four Naga People's Front MLAs, the lone TMC MLA and an Independent member. Seven Congress MLAs also joined the BJP subsequently.
Demanding disqualification of the seven MLAs, the Congress in January this year had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, which had asked the Speaker to take appropriate steps.
(With IANS inputs)
