Manipur’s Health Minister L. Jayentakumar on Monday clarified that the NPP Ministers’ move to rejoin the coalition Ministry led by Chief Minister N. Biren last month was not under pressure from the BJP’s central leadership. However, the Minister’s choice of a clarification via social media instead of a more formal press conference, has not gone down too well with many in the State.
The four Ministers of the NPP (National People’s Party) had resigned last month from the BJP-led coalition Ministry. It took Assam’s Finance Minister and convener of North East Democratic Alliance Hemanta Bishwa Sarma and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conard K. Sangma, who is also the national president of the NPP, two visits to Imphal and heavy parleys to diffuse the impasse.
Mr. Jayentakumar said, “It was not under the pressure from the Centre that we rejoined the Ministry. It is a matter of moral principle of the NPP which remains unchanged. We also did not seek additional portfolios. Our target was not the Centre. But we were concerned since we felt that the State BJP looked at us with a different eye. We could not tolerate it for a long time. We merely demanded to stop the interference, obstructions and victimisation”.
Meanwhile, the government may face further trouble as the Naga People’s Front is reportedly seeking the induction of four of its MLAs into the Council of Ministers. Like the NPP, the NPF had won 4 seats in the March 2017 Assembly polls.
Also, there are indications that some legislators who won on BJP tickets in the Assembly polls are unhappy over non-allocation of Ministerial berths.