Crises within put question mark on SPF's future

Imphal, March 15: Despite senior leaders ruling out internal dissension within the newly installed Secular progressive Front (SPF) ministry, not all seems to be well within the coalition Front and the lingering dissatisfaction among Congress MLAs has put a big question mark on its life span. Hardly has the controversy over the ?unanimous? election of O Ibobi as the Congress legislature leader died down, the allocation of portfolio may turn out to be the Achilles heels of the SPF government. Though the Governor approved the portfolio list submitted by O Ibobi yesterday, it could be only officially announced very late in the night as some MLAs demanded change in the list. Peeved at the non-allocation of portfolios of their choice, some senior Cabinet ministers are said to have even submitted their resignation letters to the CM. a prominent Congress leader said that several senior Congress leaders are not happy with the allocation and hinted that it could lead to the instability of the government. The Congress leader who spoke to The Sangai Express on condition of anonymity said the dissatisfaction is not just within the Congress but is palpable among other senior leaders of the SPF. Issuing an indirect warning, he said though the ruling MLAs want a stable government, several MLAs are not at all happy at the steps taken up by the CM. they have been subjected to take hard and unpleasant decision as their prestige are at stake. ?The CM should keep flock together?.if anything unpleasant happens with the ministry, Ibobi should be solely responsible for it,? he said. The Congress leader said it has become crystal clear that the moves taken up by the CM are influenced by ?outside? hands. If he continues to go by the whims o persons who are outside the Government then the government is sure to fall due to internal dissensions and not by outside forces, he added. He also opined that it will be more justified to make the Chief Minister or one of the MLAs the chairman of the steering committee of SPF instead of giving the post to somebody who is not part of the government. Over and above this, the absence of former minister and the lone woman member in the state Assembly, W Leima Devi during the ministry expansion on March 12 and the short ?revolt? by dissident MLAs in the evening of the same day are not good signs for the Congress led government. An ML who was among those who staged the revolt also said on anonymity that the present ministry could have been toppled during the revolt but they stopped short of it as they ?respected the June 18 uprising? of the people. On the other hand the Opposition must be watching the developments within the Front with glee. Their stand that they would not topple the government sounds hollow as it is a foregone conclusion that they would not be able to resist the scent of power.