May support BJP in Manipur again if leadership is changed: Conrad K. Sangma

Meghalaya Chief Minister said he has been discussing the need to stop the conflict in Manipur with central BJP leaders

The Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said his National People’s Party (NPP) may support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Manipur again if a change in leadership in the ethnic conflict-scarred State leads to an environment of peace.

On Sunday , the NPP withdrew support from the Nongthombam Biren Singh-led government for its “complete failure” in resolving the crisis and restoring normalcy in the State. Headed by Mr. Sangma, the NPP is Manipur’s second-largest party, with seven MLAs in the 60-member House.

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“We have made it clear that our withdrawal of support was specific to him, the individual (Mr. Singh). If we see a change in leadership and a positive step forward to resolve the conflict, we can constructively cooperate and contribute to ensuring that peace and normalcy return in Manipur,” the Meghalaya CM said on Monday.

He said the NPP would be happy to work with the BJP again if the party found there were efforts to end the clashes between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities that have claimed more than 260 lives and displaced some 60,000 others.

“Incidents have been taking place for more than a year in Manipur but we were hopeful of a positive result. The situation deteriorated further last week, convincing our State leaders that they could not move forward [in the alliance],” Mr. Sangma said.

“There may not have been a specific plan behind the violence in Manipur as such things can happen when sentiments are high. There were some efforts to contain the situation but they were not enough,” he said.

He insisted that the Manipur decision would not strain the NPP’s ties with the BJP. “The decision is about Shri Biren Singh. Our MLAs and our party’s Manipur State Committee lost confidence in him and decided not to support his government,” he said.

‘Building trust essential’

Mr. Sangma also said that as a part of the National Democratic Alliance, he had been discussing the Manipur issue with the BJP’s central leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Singh and BJP president J.P. Nadda. “I have shared with them that it is important to undertake confidence building measures and make the people trust in the system again. The overall actions being taken are not reaching a logical conclusion because of the trust deficit,” he said.

“We have been stressing some trust-building measures for the government to be able to create an environment toward a positive result. This has not been done but we are hopeful,” Mr. Sangma said.

No threat to Biren govt.

The withdrawal of support by the NPP is unlikely to threaten the Biren Singh government, which has 32 MLAs in the 60-member House. The majority mark in 31.

However, seven BJP legislators who belong to the Kuki-Zo community have stayed away from the State’s capital Imphal since the ethnic conflict broke out in May 2023. Their association with the party has been loose since.

“The BJP will face a challenge if the Naga People’s Front (NPF), which is in the government, unlike the other parties, withdraws support. The other parties such as Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and independents can step in but they would be worried about a possible public backlash,” a political commentator in Imphal said, declining to be quoted.

The NPF has five MLAs while the JD(U) has six. Manipur has three independent legislators.

The NPP is now in the Opposition in Manipur, along with the Congress, which has five MLAs, and the Kuki People’s Alliance, which has two legislators.

Published - November 18, 2024 04:50 pm IST