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Attending roll call at New Delhi :
Can Manipur afford this?
Attending roll call at New Delhi :
Can Manipur afford this?
Roll call at Delhi. It was a one to one and while it is still not clear if there will be another such round at New Delhi, it was clear that the Ministers who are at loggerheads would surely be summoned to New Delhi one day. The only thing being that the summon came rather late in the day. Not yet clear as to what transpired during the one to one meeting, but all the prominent personalities in the political stand off were called for the one to one. Chief Minister N Biren, Deputy Chief Minister Y Joykumar, RD and PR Minister Th Biswajit, Agriculture Minister V Hangkhanlian and former State BJP president Th Chaoba all met Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary of the BJP, Bhupender Yadav. Met all but separately and what transpired during the meeting is known only to those who were at the meeting, at least till now. What course of action the Central leadership of the BJP will take remains to be seen, but the political crisis within the BJP led Government is real, very real and this is what is worrying. Worrying in the sense that instability of any sort cannot be good for the people when there are so many sensitive issues facing the State. The final deal with the NSCN (IM) may be struck anytime and the least that the State would want is a Government crippled by infighting. And this is exactly what is happening at the moment. Anything can happen when the final deal with the NSCN (IM) is struck and this is when the State would need a strong Government which can walk with the people. The present status of the Government gives little hope to the people and this is what is extremely worrying. The Manipur People Bill is yet to receive the Presidential assent and in the face of a Government plagued by infighting, anything can happen and one can recall the days of stand off between the State police and the young protesters on the roads of Imphal. What if the said Bill is rejected by the Centre ? Can the State Government concentrate on drafting a new Bill if the infighting continues ? As it is, precious time has been lost and the energy of the Government should be concentrated on things which matter to the people, such as the scanty rain, which is set to deal a big blow on agricultural outputs. The price of local rice has already shot up and voices of protest against the uncontrolled price rise of local rice can be heard coming from different quarters. These are issues on which the State Government should be concentrating but with the infighting on, it is doubtful if enough attention has been paid to any of the issues which have just been mentioned. A little over two years old, the BJP led Government is, and it is discouraging to see that it has not been able to hold itself well within this short span to time. It will also go against the stand of the BJP leadership under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. As expected the Congress has already started speaking out, with MPCC president Gaikhangam pointing out that while the Ministers are engrossed in power struggle, governance has been left in shambles. Nothing good will come out of the prolonged crisis within the BJP led Government.