BJP’s 1st government in Manipur: Lotus continues to bloom in Northeast India

The saffron party is all set to form its government in the hill state of Manipur.

Imphal, March 15: A tweet by Himanta Biswa Sarma, senior minister in Assam, congratulating N Biren Singh, as he is all set to take oath as the next chief minister of Manipur, sums up the 'euphoric' mood in the Bharatiya Janata Party camp across the northeast India. The lotus flower is the party symbol of the BJP.

"Congrats #NBirenSingh ji on getting elected to take over as first BJP CM of #Manipur. Lotus continues to bloom in #NorthEast. @BJP4Manipur," tweeted Sarma, convener of the North-East Democratic Alliance, a BJP-led group in northeast region.

After forming the government in neighbouring Assam for the first time last year, the saffron party is all set to form its government, again for the first time, in Manipur. On Wednesday, the first BJP-led government in Manipur will be sworn-in when Singh will be administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Najma Heptulla. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 1 pm on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Heptulla invited Singh, who was unanimously elected the leader of the 21-member BJP legislature party, to form the government. Both the BJP and the Congress put up their best efforts to form the government in the hill state. Finally, the governor decided to invite the BJP as it has the largest number of seats, supported by smaller parties.

In the 60-member Manipur Assembly, a party (with or without allies) needs the support of 31 MLAs to stake its claim to form the government. Although the Congress has secured 28 seats, getting the maximum seats in the 60-member Manipur Assembly in the recently concluded elections, the BJP with 21 seats has staked its claim to form the next government in the state.

On Sunday, the BJP submitted a list of 32 legislators to Heptullah, claiming the support of 11 other MLAs -- four of Naga People's Front, four National People's Party, one Lok Janshakti Party, one Independent and one Trinamool Congress Party. Earlier, the BJP unanimously elected Singh as the leader of the legislature party on Monday.

According to reports, after forming elected-governments in Assam and Manipur, the BJP is preparing to win the Meghalaya Assembly elections, scheduled in 2018. After Goa, Manipur would be the second state among the five where elections were held recently where the BJP would form a government despite not being the single largest party by cobbling together a post-poll alliance. The BJP runs a coalition government in Assam and has its own government in Arunachal Pradesh crafted through defection.

OneIndia News