Six Congress MLAs in Manipur resign

    Imphal, Aug 11 (PTI) Six Congress MLAs in Manipur have
submitted their resignation to the speaker, party legislator
O Henry Singh said on Tuesday.
    They are among the eight Congress MLAs who defied a
party whip on Monday and skipped the one-day session of the
assembly, in which the BJP-led N Biren Singh government won a
facile vote of confidence.
    Besides Henry Singh who is an MLA from the Wangkhei
assembly segment, the legislators who have resigned are Oinam
Lukhoi of Wangoi, Md Abdul Nasir of Lilong, Paonam Brojen of
Wangjing Tentha, Ngamthang Haokip of Saitu, and Ginsuanhau of
Singhat, he said.
    They cited the lack of trust in the leadership of O
Ibobi Singh and said that due to him, the Congress failed to
form the government even when it was the single largest party
in the state.
    They were summoned by Speaker Yumnam Khemchand Singh
after the assembly session on Monday night and their
resignation letters were verified, Henry Singh said.
    The resignations were yet to be accepted by the
speaker, he added.
    Henry Singh said they will resign from the membership
of the party later in the day.
    Though the government's victory in the vote of
confidence was a foregone conclusion, the absence of the eight
Congress MLAs from the crucial session showed some astute
political manoeuvering by the chief minister.
    The 60-member House has an effective strength of 53,
including the speaker, who had the casting vote he
could have used in the event of a tie.
    Four members had been disqualified earlier and three
of the BJP resigned sometime back.
    The ruling coalition had 29 MLAs, including the
speaker, while the Congress had 24, of whom eight abstained.
    With this victory, Biren Singh, buffetted by a string
of desertions in the party, appeared to have consolidated his
grip on the ruling coalition which has 18 BJP MLAs, four each
of NPP and NPF, one each of the TMC, Lok Janshakti Party and
an Independent. PTI CORR
SOM SOM

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)