Guwahati: NPP national vice-president and Manipur's former deputy chief minister Yumnam Joykumar Singh clarified that three, not four, MLAs of the party attended the meeting of NDA ministers and legislators convened by chief minister N Biren Singh last Monday.
Talking to TOI, Singh said, "Our Tamenglong legislator Janghemlung Panmei was not present at the meeting," confirming that reports about the MLA's purported signature on the attendees' list being false were "correct."
According to the chief minister's secretariat roster containing names and signatures of each member, 27 people (including CM Biren Singh) participated in the meeting, among whom four were supposedly from NPP — Irengbam Nalini Devi, Th Shanti Singh, M Rameshwar Singh and Janghemlung Panmei.
The NPP leader explained that the party's three MLAs attended CM's meeting due to a confusion regarding the party's current stance.
"Whilst we remain part of the NDA at the Centre, there exists no NDA govt in Manipur," Singh stated, referencing party president and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma's Monday declaration that NPP has specifically withdrawn its support to Biren Singh-led govt in Manipur exclusively, suggesting NPP's continued NDA partnership.
Singh mentioned that the party is not initiating disciplinary measures against the three MLAs. "We have issued directives to them indicating their attendance was inappropriate and they ought to avoid such situations," he said.
Singh remarked that CM Biren Singh's meeting bears little significance. "BJP solely possesses the authority to determine whether he (Biren) should be replaced or retained."