No consensus yet on BJP’s CM candidate in Manipur

BJP struggles to select Manipur CM successor, amid speculation of President's Rule, as security forces arrest extremists.

The BJP in Manipur struggled to select a successor to caretaker Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh for the third straight day on Wednesday (February 12, 2025).

Sambit Patra, the MP in charge of the party’s affairs in the northeast, met Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla for the third time in as many days. Neither the Raj Bhavan nor the BJP issued any statement on what transpired during their meeting for more than an hour.

Mr. Patra, who continued his one-to-one meeting with the legislators of the BJP and its allies, declined to speak to journalists after emerging from the Raj Bhavan.

However, BJP legislator Karam Shyam dismissed speculations about the imposition of the President’s Rule in the ethnic conflict-scarred State. “Contrary to the hypotheses, there will be no constitutional crisis. We have reasons to believe our central leaders will resolve the matter in consultation with the party’s State unit,” the MLA representing the Langthabal constituency said.

A senior BJP leader in Imphal said the party’s central leadership, including Home Minister Amit Shah and national president J.P. Nadda, could meet the State’s legislators in Delhi soon to finalise a consensus candidate for the Chief Minister’s post.

In the 60-member Manipur Assembly, the BJP has 32 MLAs, including seven from the Kuki-Zo community who have stayed away from the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley since violence broke out on May 3, 2023, claiming at least 250 lives and displacing some 60,000 others.

Amid the political crisis, pressure groups have begun to show their frustration. Ph. Nando Luwang, the president of the influential All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation, said the imposition of President’s Rule or keeping the State Assembly in suspended animation would not make any difference to the people of the State at this juncture.