Meghalaya CM in Manipur quandary

SHILLONG/GUWAHATI: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) on Thursday faced the dilemma of saving his alliance with BJP in the state by voting for the party’s Rajya Sabha candidate in Manipur in Friday’s even as he sides with Congress to topple the N Biren Singh government there.
“I have apprised the coalition partners in the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) about the political developments in Manipur and assured them that the situation there would not impact Meghalaya,” Sangma said a day after four NPP ministers in Manipur exited the BJP-led coalition to leave the Biren Singh government on shaky ground.
Sangma held his Manipur counterpart solely responsible for NPP deciding to quit the coalition on Wednesday along with a TMC legislator and an independent. Three BJP MLAs resigned, too.
The situation in Manipur has “a lot to do with the leadership (of Biren Singh)” and should be looked at as “an individual-based issue”, he said.
Meghalaya health minister Alexander Laloo Hek, who is from BJP, told TOI, “There will be no impact of the Manipur developments in Meghalaya, but today we have submitted a memorandum to NPP national president Sangma, requesting that his party MLAs in Manipur should vote in favour of the BJP candidate tomorrow in the RS election. We have extended our support to the NPP-backed RS candidate in Meghalaya and expect reciprocation.”