Manipur NPP faces internal strife as key members defect to Congress

Speculation has intensified over the past few days regarding a possible rift within the Manipur Unit of the National People’s Party (NPP), as some members have reportedly left the party. 

The suspicion of disunity was further fueled when all seven legislators from the Manipur Unit stayed away from the party’s State executive meeting held recently.

This speculation gained traction with the recent joining of former NPP leaders, Langpoklakpam Jayantakumar Singh and O Romen Singh, to the Indian National Congress. 
Langpoklakpam Jayantakumar Singh is a former NPP MLA, while O Romen Singh was a former NPP candidate. Their switch to a new party suggests underlying issues within the NPP Manipur Unit.

Earlier, on September 27, the NPP State executive committee conducted a meeting at Hotel Radisson Blu in Guwahati, chaired by its national president, Conrad K Sangma, who is also the Chief Minister of Meghalaya. 

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The meeting aimed to deliberate on whether the NPP should continue supporting the BJP-led Manipur government. Although most NPP MLAs from Manipur participated, the meeting could not reach a concrete decision due to sharp differences of opinion among the members.

Conrad Sangma concluded the meeting by announcing a National executive committee meeting in Delhi on October 5 to resolve the matter. However, this proposed meeting was later postponed indefinitely. 

In response to this postponement, the Manipur Unit of the NPP convened a meeting on October 9 at its office in Naoremthong, Imphal West district.

The primary agenda of the recent meeting was to address issues arising from the indefinite postponement of the national executive meeting initially scheduled for October 5 in New Delhi by the national president, Conrad K Sangma. 

Notably, all seven sitting MLAs of the National People’s Party in Manipur did not attend the meeting. 

Nevertheless, the party’s national vice president and former state deputy chief minister Y Joykumar, along with former ministers Y Irabot and N Mangi, former MLA S Sobhachandra, and other senior state executive members, participated in the discussions.