With the Manipur government failing to conduct an assembly of the Manipur State Legislative on Monday, the Congress said that President’s Rule is likely to be imposed in the state due to the failure of the state government.
Due to the failure to convene a regular Manipur Legislative Assembly session, President’s Rule is likely to be imposed in Manipur, Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president K Meghachandra said.
The state MPCC president was addressing the media on Monday at the state party’s head office located at BT Road, Imphal.
Meghachandra said, to discuss the present turmoil that has been continuing since May 3, people have been demanding for the convention of a special assembly session and even the MPCC had submitted a memorandum three times to the Governor to convene an emergency assembly session. And following the demands made by the MPCC and various civil bodies, the state cabinet sent a recommendation to the Governor in order to summon the regular session of Manipur Legislative Assembly on August 21, he said.
However, the failure to convene a regular session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly is a total violation of MLAs’ right, Meghachandra said, adding that the MLAs are to be notified to submit their queries to the authorities concerned 15 days ahead of the session.
However, no such notification has been received by the Congress MLAs till date, the congress president said.
As per rules of procedure and conduct of business, the regular session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly is to be convened by September 2 and necessary process, including submission of starred questions and others, has to be started 15 days ahead of the session.
However, the government present violated the rules and being unable to convene a regular assembly session is a ‘constitutional crisis’, he added.
The MPCC strongly condemned the suppressing the voice of people which is necessary to be discussed in order to bring normalcy in Manipur. The present government not only murdered democracy but also bulldozed the democracy of India, he asserted.
Meghachandra then questioned what is the hidden agenda of the present BJP government for turning a deaf ear to convening regular session, further questioning if it is to protect the BJP MLAs.
The double-engine BJP government has totally distorted the territorial integrity of Manipur during the turmoil, he alleged.
There is no need to convene a ‘special session’ of the state assembly as during the special session it is not mandatory for all the MLAs to attend the sitting and it also not mandatory for the concerned ministers to answer the queries made on the assembly floor, Meghachandra said.
Congress MLA Th Lokeshwar told the media that if an assembly session is to be convened by violating the rules issued by the constitution of India, then the session could be convened anywhere and any place, even in Khwairamband Bazar.
He alleged that ignoring to convene a regular session showed that the present government is not bothered about bringing a solution to the present turmoil. Instead of guarding the democracy, they (centre and state) are distorting and discriminating the democracy of India in Manipur, he added.
Earlier, the State Cabinet had, on August 4, recommended the Governor of Manipur for summoning the 4th session of 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly on August 21. The previous session was held in March and was adjourned sine die on March 3.
Demanding an assembly session in order to discuss the turmoil and bring back normalcy, the Coordinating Committee of 24 Assembly Constituencies and MACKMAL, Union of Social Upliftment and CFC, Thongju also imposed a 24 hours public curfew across the state on August 5. The public curfew affected normal life especially in the Imphal city areas.
One of the officials of Manipur Legislature Assembly told the IFP that no official notification has been issued to convene the assembly session.
