BJP brass to meet MLAs, allies on Manipur future

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held crucial closed-door meetings with potential chief ministerial candidates in Imphal on Monday, even as the party's central leadership prepared to meet Kuki-Zo legislators in New Delhi later this week, in a complex effort to find a successor following N Biren Singh's resignation.

- Thomas Ngangom, Smriti Kak Ramachandran and Prawesh Lama

The parallel developments underscore the attempts to find a leader who can both address the ethnic conflict between Meitei and Kuki communitieswhere Biren Singh stood accused of partisan handling and unite a fractured party unit.

While an estimated 5-10 MLAs from the party had indicated in recent days that they might not back Singh's government in the event of a no-confidence motion, which would have led to a collapse of the government, Singh continues to command a loyal base with approximately two dozen MLAs standing firm with him.

During the day, the party's northeast in-charge Sambit Patra met with speaker T Satyabrata Singh, education minister Y Khemchand, Th Biswajit, former minister Th Radheshyam, and minister Awangboi Newmai at an Imphal hotel.

Most of these are considered front-runners as Singh's replacement.

BJP leaders in Delhi, who asked not to be named, said separately that there were plans to meet with 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs on Wednesday. However, the timing of the meeting remains uncertain. One Kuki legislator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were yet to receive a formal invitation, while another confirmed discussions about the meeting but noted it might be delayed "by a couple of days due to logistical reasons".

These discussions unfold against the backdrop of another possibility that the state may be put under President's Rule if a consensus cannot be reached before the constitutional deadline for convening the assembly on February 12.