Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey on Tuesday summoned the monsoon session of the 60-member Assembly on August 29 following a recommendation of the State Cabinet, officials said.
Quoting the Governor’s order, Assembly Secretary K. Meghajit Singh said in a notification that the fourth session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly would meet on August 29.
“The Business Advisory Committee of the Assembly would now decide the schedule and duration of the session,” an official in the State’s capital Imphal said.
Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister’s Office posted on X, formerly Twitter: “The State Cabinet chaired by Hon’ble CM N. Biren Singh on Monday, August 21, 2023, took a decision to convene the 4th Session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly (Monsoon Session) on August 29, 2023.”
On August 4, the Cabinet made a similar recommendation to the Governor for convening the monsoon session. The Governor’s office did not issue the customary notification within the stipulated time, sparking off a debate over a “constitutional crisis”.
The last Assembly session was held in March.
According to the rules, at least two Assembly sessions must be held in a year, translating into one every six months.
Congress’s demand
The Congress Legislature Party led by former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh met the Governor on July 26 and demanded the convening of a special session of the Assembly under Article 174 (1) of the Constitution.
The Congress has been seeking the imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur in view of the “failure of the State machinery”.
The ongoing ethnic violence and related issues are expected to be discussed in the Assembly session. Manipur has been burning since the conflict between the non-tribal Meitei and the tribal Kuki people broke out on May 3.
But 10 Kuki MLAs, including seven of the ruling BJP, are unlikely to attend the session for “security reasons”. A similar reason has been cited for the 10 Naga MLAs who may skip the session too.
The Kuki MLAs have been demanding a separate administration for the tribal people with an Assembly-like set-up in the hills and the posting of officials of the rank of Chief Secretary and Director General of Police.
More than 160 people have been killed and some 60,000 displaced since the violence broke out in the State on May 3 following a ‘tribal solidarity march’ organised in the hill districts to oppose the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The internally-displaced are being sheltered across 350 relief camps in Manipur apart from neighbouring States, mainly Mizoram, whose dominant community, the Mizos, share an ethnic bond with the Kuki-Zomi people of Manipur.
