Overview
- On May 28, ten NDA MLAs—eight from the BJP and two from the NPP—met Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum claiming backing from 44 legislators.
- Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13 following Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s resignation, with the 60-member assembly in suspended animation and one seat vacant after an MLA’s death.
- The claimed coalition excludes ten Kuki-Zo MLAs and five Congress members, underscoring deep ethnic divisions and factional rifts within the state BJP unit.
- The BJP central leadership in New Delhi will decide the timing and viability of formally staking a claim to form the government.
- Ethnic clashes since May 2023 have resulted in over 250 deaths and displaced more than 60,000 people, driving civil society groups to call for a government committed to peace and reconciliation.