No plan to ask Biren government to go for floor test: Congress

The Congress on Monday said that it was primarily concerned about restoring normalcy in Manipur and had no plan to topple the BJP government over there.

Answering questions in a press conference here, Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee chief K Maghachandra said there was no plan by the Congress to ask the Biren Singh-led BJP government in the state to go for a floor test.

The NPP, led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, on Sunday announced withdrawal of support to the BJP government in the state owing to its failure to contain the ongoing ethnic violence in the state.

While the withdrawal of support will not reduce the government to a minority as the BJP on its own has 37 members in the 60-member Manipur House, the situation may turn challenging for the party if the 10 Kuki MLAs including seven from the BJP also start playing truant.

The ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur has created a deep divide among the Meitei and Kuki MLAs of the party with the latter staying away from various government events citing security concerns and did not show up even for the Assembly session convened in August this year.

However, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who was presiding over the press conference addressed by K Meghachandra and AICC in-charge of state Girish Chodankar, here today ruled out the party playing in the troubled water to topple the BJP government in Manipur.

“We have only five MLAs in Manipur. There is no question of us making any political move. We want normalcy to be restored in the state”, he said.

However, the Congress leaders present in the press conference demanded resignation of Chief Minister Biren Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for failing to control the ethnic violence going on in Manipur for more than a year now.