Amid the ongoing unrest in Manipur, the Conrad Sangma-led National People’s Party (NPP) on Sunday withdrew its support to the BJP-led Manipur government. In an official letter to BJP national president JP Nadda, the NPP said: “The Manipur government under the leadership of Chief Minister N Biren Singh has completely failed to control caste violence and restore normalcy in the state. Taking into account the current situation, the NPP has decided to withdraw its support to the Biren Singh-led government in the state of Manipur with immediate effect.
Now the question is whether N. Biren Singh’s government in Manipur is in danger after the withdrawal of support from the NPP. So the answer is no. If we look at the results of Manipur Assembly elections held in 2022, BJP won 32 seats, Congress 5, JDU 6, Naga People’s Front 5 and Conrad Sangma’s NPP won 7 seats. In addition, the Kuki People’s Alliance obtained independent candidates for 2 and 3 seats.
In reality, the majority figure in the 60-member Manipur Assembly is 31 and the BJP has 32 MLAs of its own. Soon after the 2022 assembly elections, 5 of the 6 JDU MLAs formally joined the saffron party, taking the number of BJP members in the assembly to 37. Thus, the BJP government led by Minister Principal N. Biren Singh in Manipur has a majority of his own. The government will not be unstable even after seven NPP MLAs withdraw their support.
