Imphal, June 23: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and Lok Sabha member Thokchom Meinya Singh today rushed to New Delhi with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking for the list of legislators who will make up the new Secular Progressive Front (SPF) ministry.
Meinya Singh said before leaving for the capital that the AICC had devised a formula to prevent dissidence. “We hope there will be no problem during the downsizing exercise. We will urge Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister not to tolerate lobbying for ministry berths.”
The size of the 33-member ministry has to be reduced to 12 by July 7 in accordance with a constitutional amendment.
The chief minister has been facing pressure from ministers, especially the junior ones, to retain them. Some of them have reportedly suggested that the senior ministers be appointed as “advisers”. On whether such suggestions were being considered, Meinya Singh said ministers would be retained or inducted on the basis of their abilities and records as politicians.
The MP said he and Ibobi Singh would seek the Prime Minister and the Congress chief’s advice on whether to have ministers of state in the new-look government.
Sources said 10 of the 12 ministry berths at stake would go to the Congress. Its partners in the coalition, the CPI and the Manipur State Congress Party, will get a berth each.
Given the power equation in Manipur, Ibobi Singh is expected to persist with the system of giving all eight districts adequate representation in the ministry.
A leader of the ruling coalition said the picture would become clearer after the chief minister’s return to Imphal in a few days’ time. Apart from meeting the Prime Minister and the Congress president, he will attend a conference of chief ministers during his stay in New Delhi.