The Congress' efforts to topple the BJP-led government in Manipur received a jolt on Tuesday after four MLAs of National Peoples Party (NPP) reportedly left the new Opposition front and were flown to Delhi for discussion with senior BJP leaders.
Sources said that the development took place after BJP's crisis manager and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma held meetings with the MLAs on Tuesday at Imphal.
NPP chief and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma was also in the meeting.
"They had raised some issues which I cannot address on my own. So they wanted a meeting with senior leaders," Sarma told reporters at Imphal airport.
The four MLAs of NPP, an ally of BJP in the Northeast, and five others had resigned from the three-year-old N Biren Singh government on June 17 and joined the Congress-led front, Secular Progressive Front (SPF), the next day.
They had decided to support the efforts to topple the government.
A team of the SRF led by former chief minister and veteran Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh including the NPP MLAs met Governor Najma Heptulla on Thursday and staked claim to form their government.
They claimed the support of 26 MLAs in the house of 52 and also demanded a floor test by BJP-led government.
As NPP MLAs remained firm with the Ibobi Singh camp, the BJP rushed Sarma to Imphal on Sunday. Conrad Sangma had also visited Imphal with Sarma but they could not break the ice with the disgruntled MLAs.
Sarma is also the convenor of North East Democratic Alliance, a forum of BJP's regional allies in the region. Sarma on Monday claimed in Guwahati that everything was under BJP's control and a positive solution would come out in the next two-three days.
The development happened hours after CBI summoned Ibobi Singh in connection with a corruption case registered against him in November 2019.
But a BJP leader in Imphal insisted that the CBI action had nothing to do with the political development.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels | Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks