Manipur political turmoil: Congress accuses BJP of using ‘every unethical trick in the game’

New Delhi: The Manipur political drama continues to take a fresh turn and the Congress seems to have once again run out of luck against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s might, failing to topple the BJP-led government in the northeastern state of India even after four ministers in the state government had withdrawn support from the ruling party a week ago.

On Thursday, the four legislators of the National People’s Party (NPP) in Manipur submitted a letter to Governor Najma Heptulla, extending their support to the government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

Miffed by the sudden turn of events, the Congress accused the BJP of violating every possible rule and using “every unethical trick in the game” and “misusing the premier investigative agency” to retain power in the state, in the process “murdering democracy”.

Congress leader Ajay Maken, the party’s special observer in Manipur, alleged that the state Assembly Speaker acted arbitrarily, and that four MLAs who would have voted for Congress’ Rajya Sabha candidate were disqualified and the four who supported the BJP were allowed to retain their Vidhan Sabha seats.

“All these illegal acts were carried out to ensure victory of their candidate in the election for the vacant seat in the Rajya Sabha,” Maken alleged.

The Speaker also disqualified the sole Trinamool Congress legislator in the Assembly.

The grand old party also alleged that the copy of the orders passed in the Assembly was not made available to the parties who were affected till 19 June 2020 to make sure the High Court cannot be approached.

The political turmoil in the state began after 3 BJP MLAs resigned and the four NPP ministers resigned, along with the sole TMC MLA resigned from the position of the Chairman of the Planning and Development Authority, news agency IANS reported.