Politics / Manipur

Imphal, June 28: At least two battle lines within the Ruling Congress in the state are becoming distinct. One of these marks an in-house campaign for two candidates for MPCC (I) presidentship, and the other has to do with the pressure on the chief minister, O Ibobi Singh, to swear in a deputy chief minister. Observers predict a resolution to the two storms immediately after the Monsoon session of the Assembly scheduled to begin on July 4. The post of the MPCC (I) president came to be in contention as senior leaders both at the state as well as the Centre, made their intention known that they...

Imphal, June 24: For the moment Chief Minister O Ibobi and his men can rest in peace as the 'post merger crisis' that had threatened to rock the boat of the Secular Progressive Front Government has blown over with the Steering Committee of the Front accepting the merger of the 11 MLAs with the Congress after a marathon meeting today. The Steering Committee meeting started at 3 pm and stretched on till 7.30 in the evening and was presided by MSCP president and co-chairman of the Steering Committee Th Chaoba. Along with granting cognizance to the merger of the 11 MLAs the meeting resolved to...

Imphal, June 23: MPP president O Joy has been re-elected to the post for the third term without opposition after no other candidate filed their nomination for the election to be held on June 30 till today, the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers. RO Ch Shyamjai issued a notification declaring the re-election of Joy to the post of the MPP president. Joy has been the MPP president since 1995 and is the 11th president.

Imphal, June 22: Demonstrating strong protests against the merger of the 11 MLAs with the Congress, Rajya Sabha MP and seasoned political figure, Rishang Keishing today resigned from the post of the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Secular Progressive Front. In another development the Nationalist Congress Party has walked out of the SPF sparking off a potential round of political upheaval in the days to come. Rishang Keishing submitted his resignation letter to the Secretary of the Steering Committee, Ph Parijat of the CPI who is also the PCS Minister. In his resignation paper...

Imphal, June 21: The AICC has formally approved the merger of the 11 MLAs with the Congress after its president Sonia Gandhi gave the go ahead signal at New Delhi today. The 11 MLAs are from the MSCP (Secular-5), NCP (Demo-cratic-3) and Samata Party (Progressive-3). A statement issued by the AICC from New Delhi today said that Chief Minister O Ibobi along with other senior members of the MPCC (I) met key functionaries of the AICC including Pranab Mukherjee and Dr Manmohan Singh and apprised them of the current political situation in Manipur and the urgent need to strengthen the hand of the...

Imphal, June 20: Even though the merger of 11 MLAs with the Congress was announced by Chief Minister O Ibobi yesterday, the All India Congress Committee is yet to take a final decision on the matter. The 11 MLAs were drawn from the MSCP (5), NCP (3) and the Samata Party (3). While MSCP and the NCP are constituent partners of the Secular Progressive Front Government, the Samata Party is with the Opposition bloc, Democratic People's Alliance. However a reliable source from New Delhi informed that the AICC has approved the merger of the 11 MLAs even though an official announcement to this effect...

IMPHAL, June 20 ? The two-member Democratic People?s Party (DPP), a constituent of the ruling six-party Secular Progressive Front (SPP) in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, has said it would demand pre-merger status of Manipur if the State?s territories were ?divided to appease? the NSCN (I-M), and also demanded arrest of NSCN (I-M) general secretary Th Muivah, reports PTI. The DPP welcomes the peace talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M), but would oppose, at all costs, the attempts to ?divide? Manipur, party spokesman RK Anand told newsmen. Manipur Government, he said, should arrest NSCN...

Imphal, June 19: In a new political twist which may lead to major changes within the Congress led SPF Ministry, M MLAs including 5 Ministers of the MSCP and another 3 of the NCP which are constituent partners of the ruling SPF and all three MLAs of the Samata Party, a partner of the Opposition DPA have split their respective parties and merged with the Congress today. Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh who is also the MPCC (I) president has accepted their merger. MPCC (I) general secretary (administration) Bidyapati Senjam has also issued an order to this effect today. The merger of the 11 MLAs has...

Imphal, June 18: As announced earlier the All Manipur United Clubs' Organization paid homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives to protect the territorial integrity of Manipur by organizing a function at GM Hall today under the theme "Unity Day." Leaders of different communities turned up in full strength to participate in the function. AMUCO president Ito Tongbram presided over the function while leaders drawn from all section of society and communities took the presidium chair. Addressing the function, Zangzawin Zou from the United Zomi Organization questioned whether there is any...

Imphal, June 18: People in thousands joined Chief Minister O Ibobi in paying rich floral tributes to the 18 persons who died in the people's uprising on June 18 last year as part of the Great June Uprising Day observance organized by the United Committee Manipur at Kekrupat this morning. Ministers of the SPF Ministry, MLAs and leaders of political parties and family members of the martyrs also offered tributes to them. Trumpet and Thang salutes were also offered. An all community prayer was held at Kekrupat from 6 to 8 am. Earlier, the people including members of around 30 different...