BJP leaders hold marathon talks to select Manipur CM

With marathon talks failing to throw up a consensus candidate for the post of Manipur chief minister, BJP sources said that the central BJP leadership may intervene to come to a final decision. For the fourth day, BJP's northeast in-charge Sambit Patra held a series of meetings with MLAs and also met governor Ajay Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan. He had met the governor on Tuesday as well.

A senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said, "There are too many candidates in the fray for the chief minister's post. The party's central leaders will soon intervene to make a breakthrough as consensus is not evolving. There are several contenders for the post. Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh and Yumnam Khemchand Singh are in the race. He said that Th Biswajit and Govindas Konthoujam were also likely contenders." BJP MLAs are likely to meet party leaders including JP Nadda and BL Santhosh in batches.

The Opposition Congress has alleged that the BJP-led government has created a constitutional crisis by not convening the assembly session by February 12. However, Manipur's BJP MLA Karam Shyam on Wednesday claimed that there is "no constitutional crisis". Shyam, who came to a hotel in Imphal to meet Patra, said the ongoing issues would be resolved by the Centre with the help of legislators.


"I don't know about President's Rule. I think the problem will be resolved by the Centre with the help of legislators. I think there is no constitutional crisis in Manipur," he said. Former Speaker and Congress MLA Lokeshwar said that the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly has not convened its 7th session, leaving the people in the dark about critical issues. "If the session is not convened soon, it could be deemed null and void, which would be unprecedented for any state or government. If President's Rule is imposed, the political scenario will change completely," he said.