Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla on Tuesday invited the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a government in the state, reported NDTV. The swearing-in ceremony will be held on Wednesday at 1 pm. Former Congress leader N Biren Singh is the saffron party’s chief minister-designate.
The Congress had, however, challenged the BJP’s claim with its own letter of support “on behalf” of the National People’s Party. The NPP, which is part of the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, however, dismissed it as fake. The BJP got 21 seats, while the Congress got 28 seats in the state Assembly elections. However, the Congress has the support of the MLAs belonging to the Naga People’s Front and the NPP, both NDA allies.
Heptualla had earlier questioned the Congress’ letter of support and said that such representation on behalf of a party was not allowed as per rules. She had, however, said that she was convinced by the BJP’s claim that they had the support of the majority of the MLAs.
The BJP’s CM candidate had switched camps in October 2016. On Monday, Singh said that he had left the Congress because of “misgovernance”. “Thank Amit Shah ji, [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi ji and senior leaders,” he said. “Left Congress due to misgovernance, sure that BJP will give good governance to Manipur.”
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