The newly appointed Governor of Assam, Lakshman Prasad Acharya, has been given the additional charge of the Governor of Manipur and he is being sworn in as Governor of Manipur on July 31. Many had read beyond the lines with even some interpreting that the present Governor of Manipur term has been curtailed as she is having certain differences with the state government. They have cited her meeting with Rahul Gandhi when the latter visited Manipur recently and her pro active role in the crisis due to the non declaration of the results of the recruitment in DMU, as examples.
As Chancellor of DMU she has every right to send advisory for better governance and her intervention is for the good of the University and her direction for an enquiry into the slowly revealing sordid affairs in the recruitment is a very positive step to bring in a certain element of transparency in the governance of the University. There may have been differences with the state government but there is not a single time when she had violated her constitutional duty and if one looks back into her tenure she can be said to have fulfilled her constitutional obligations, though there have been one or two instances where the steps taken may be questioned.
She would have spent a nice time completing her tenure of five years but that situation was drastically altered by the incident which started on May 3, 2023 and is still continuing. Her humanitarian acts during the crisis are unbiased and people welcome her initiatives, though it is impossible to satisfy all sections of the society. But one thing is for sure, unlike most of our leaders she has full empathy for the people affected by the crisis, irrespective of the community to which they belong. The only drawback is her desire to communicate in Hindi only, restricting many unable to communicate freely with her.
She was Governor of Chhattisgarh from July 29, 2019 till February 22, 2022 before becoming Governor of Manipur on February 23, 2022 and her term expires on February 28, 2024. The Government of India perhaps does not want her to continue as Governor and hence the Governor of Assam was given additional charge of Manipur which is likely to be for a short period till a full-fledged Governor is appointed. Due to the crisis in the state, the new Governor will be a man of proven competency either from those who have retired from the IAS, IPS or the Army, perhaps from the last category. She will continue to be the Governor of Manipur till July 30 as the new Governor is being sworn in on the forenoon of July 31 and nothing should be read in the new appointment.
The chief minister before he left for Delhi for attending the meeting of the Niti Aayog and the BJP CMs Conclave had hinted strongly that he will be calling on the Prime Minister and during his stay there he had tweeted about his meeting with a number of senior Ministers. However, his calling on one MP who was formerly party in charge of the state was a bit jarring as per protocol a CM should not have gone and called on an MP. The CM represents the state and if he meets the MP in his personal capacity both should not have tweeted and both should have kept it private. A few national news media outlets broke the news that on the sideline of the BJP CMs Conclave, there was a meeting between the PM and the CM where both the Defence Minister and the Home Minister were present. N
othing much is known about the meeting as even the duration of the meeting as reported varies from 15 to 30 minutes. Even some Congress leaders were ironically asking about the photographs though many media outlets use file pictures or even morphed pictures of the two. Nothing has come out in the public domain officially about the meeting and what transpired during the meeting. It is surprising that the CM who tweets when he called on the Defence Minister, Railway Minister, Road Transport & Highways Minister, etc was keeping mum over his meeting with the PM.
The absence of the BJP president who is now a Union Minister and the presence of the Defence Minister in the said meeting indicate that something is cooking. The demand for removal of Assam Rifles, which are under the operational command of the Army seem to have misfired as his presence in the short meeting indicated and was perhaps a clue on the displeasure of the PM on the targeting of the force per se. If specific units were targeted with examples the reaction may have been different.
There are even pieces written that CRPF will replace AR, based on the statement by the Home Secretary that CRPF will have a larger role in Manipur. Such pieces are nothing but propaganda as AR plays a dual role in Manipur as border forces while also conducting CI Ops and CRPF has no role in guarding the border. There are even a report that the 10 Kuki-Chin MLAs had met the PM and the Law Minister which is nothing but heresy as very few of them are in Delhi now, with most in Churachandpur, one in Kangpokpi and another in Guwahati. So much for the news, which is nothing but fake news?
After the recent MP election, there was a buzz that there will be intervention from the Centre to control the crisis in Manipur and this was expected as things cannot go on like this for perpetuity. The Centre has to take into various aspects including the geopolitics and the security of the nation before coming to a decision and then act decisively. The positing of CM as the saviour of the Meitei and his representing this community rather than the whole of the state perhaps made the centre ponder whether any change in the leadership in Manipur will lead to serious law and order problem, and no one will like to aggravate the situation in the state.
Despite claims by the ruling party that during the Naga-Kuki conflict in the 1990s that the then PM had not visited the state, it need to recall it led to the dismissal of the R K Dorendro led Government and PR imposed from 31st December 1993 to 13th December 1994, hence status quo for a long period will not be in the interest of the ruling party. President Rule is not an option due to the failure to impose it in the early part of the crisis when it was most opportune but change in leadership can be an ice breaker to bring in normalcy as the Kuki-Chin insists that there will be no talks till the present CM is replaced.
Nothing can be expected till the State Assembly and the Parliament session is over as both are budget sessions and every effort will be made not to disrupt the sittings. And any change in the approach in Manipur can be very disruptive for the two Houses. Manipur’s session ends on August 12, while for the Parliament it will last longer.
However, after the sessions are over, there is likely that a full-fledged Governor for Manipur is appointed and some other changes including additional deployment of CRPF units and even change in the state leadership. But these are all reading the crystal ball and what happens in the state during August will be critical and Manipur may see various moves to disturb the normal law and order situation. Extortion that is rampant now may also see an increase besides encroachment on properties both private and government, besides jostling by the numerous armed groups, particularly the smaller ones, to create a space of their own and thus violent acts may increase. This can lead to the re-imposition of AFSPA in the central valley area also.
The possibility that the CM had met the PM after a long time since the eruption of violence on May 03 last year, for a short period is high and what transpire need to be clarified by the CM, if at all such a meeting took place and whether any discussion was held or whether it is a one way ticket where the PM informed that certain decisions is being taken and all should abide by it. Otherwise the people are in the dark and becoming tense and may do anything to express their frustration. But from the hints available, status quo is unlikely to continue for long and measures are likely to be forthcoming to manage the situation in Manipur. Both sides may be dissatisfied by the likely steps but options for the Centre are limited and it may not be able to please all.
(The views expressed are personal)
