Congress stakes claim to form government in Manipur
Imphal, May 18: Leaders of the opposition Congress in Manipur called on Governor J. Mukhi on Friday to formally stake claim to form an alternative government in the state.
Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla is on leave while Assam's Governor Mukhi is looking after Manipur these days.
Soon after coming out of Raj Bhavan, Opposition leader and former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said: "We demanded an immediate dismissal of the BJP-led coalition in Manipur because Congress, which had secured 28 seats in March 2017 Assembly elections, was not given a chance to form a government despite emerging as the single largest party.
"If we are given a chance to form the government, we can easily prove majority within a few days."
However, Mukhi said he would look into the memorandum submitted by the Congress.
The BJP, which secured 21 seats in last year's elections, was given the first chance to form a government. It had joined hands with some splinter parties.
Declining to comment on the political developments unfolding in Karnataka, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said: "It is a constitutional matter and I would not like to comment on it."
Ibobi said that his party will wait till 4 p.m. on Saturday and then it will take its next course of action.
Several politicians and legal luminaries are of the view that the fate of the coalition government in Manipur hangs precariously on the outcome of the trial of strength in Karnataka.
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BJP using women's quota bill as front to pass Delimitation Bill that will break India: Mamata
Cooch Behar (WB) (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was using the proposed amendment to the women's quota law in Parliament as a front for the Delimitation Bill that would "break the country into pieces".
The TMC will fight this Central government's move at every step, she asserted at her party's poll rally here.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women's quota law, along with the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, to implement the proposed amended women's quota law, in the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to the Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Opposing the Centre's move, Banerjee alleged that "the BJP brought the Delimitation Bill while keeping the women's reservation bill at the front".
"The BJP is trying to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to nearly 850 through the Delimitation Bill. It will break the country into pieces," the TMC supremo said.
She also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not speaking the truth about the development of north Bengal at a BJP rally last week.
"The prime minister said nothing was done for the development of north Bengal. But we spent Rs 1.72 lakh crore on the development of the region," Banerjee said and asked Modi to cross-check data before making such remarks.
