Tension between ruling and Opp parties still high, says Speaker

IMPHAL, February 4: The Assembly Speaker S Dhananjoy Singh has expressed the fear that trouble might erupt again between the ruling and Opposition parties if the Assembly session is reconvened now. Informing the Governor of the apprehension, the Speaker said yesterday that tension is still building up between the ruling and Opposition parties, an informed source said. The Speaker told this reporter today that the repairing work inside the House has completed. Meanwhile, State unit BJP legislature leader and former Chief Minister RK Dorendra has stated that his party is still following the decision over the issue of electing a leader of the newly form Manipur Democratic Front (MDF) which was adopted in its last meeting. The leadership of the MDF is still equally open to all Opposition MLAs as per the decision of the front, he said. Apparently reacting to a report in a section of the press, the BJP leader said even a lone Opposition MLA of a single member MDF partner has his chance to form an alternative Government if he is elected the leader when adequate number of MLAs from the ruling camp join the MDF, he said. There is no hard and fast rule of inviting the leader of the second largest Opposition party to form an alternative Government in the event of the fall of the Nipamacha Ministry, RK Dorendra said mentioning how Deve Gowda became the Prime Minister of the country. Sonia Gandhi was not invited to form the Government after the Vajpayee Government collapsed, he added. The leader who is to be invited to form the Government should show the strength of support he enjoys from the MLAs, he said. BJP has nothing to do with newspaper reports, "It will not be right for anybody to cast any aspersion on the party for the publication of such a report", he said. He further said that there has been no discussion between BJP and Samata Party central leaders on the leadership issue of the MDF. Meanwhile, Manipur Peoples Party said that a fresh election is imminent as the Nipamacha ministry is allegedly trying to create a constitutional crisis. In a release, the party said that the Centre may also invoke Article 365 of the Constitution to resolve the political crisis.