Manipur cabinet sets August 29 for assembly session

The Manipur cabinet took a decision to convene the much-awaited Manipur Legislative Assembly monsoon session on August 29, to avoid a constitutional crisis.

The Manipur Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister N.Biren Singh on Monday decided to convene the 4the Session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly (Monsoon Session) on August 29, 2023, a tweet by the Manipur Chief Minister’s Office said today.

The State Cabinet chaired by Hon'ble CM N Biren Singh on Monday 21/08/2023 took a decision to convene the 4the Session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly (Monsoon Session) on August 29, 2023.

— CMO Manipur (@manipur_cmo) August 22, 2023

Despite the Manipur cabinet recommending Governor Anusuiya Uikey convene an assembly session from Monday, the House did not sit on August 21 as “no notification” has been issued by Raj Bhavan so far, officials said, creating a dilemma of sorts. 

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This comes after 10 Kuki MLAs, cutting across party affiliations, had expressed their inability to attend the assembly session as violence in the northeastern state continued. 

"For a normal assembly session, a notification has to be issued 15 days before the beginning of it. No such notification has so far been issued by the Governor's office,” an official told the media.

Earlier on August 20, the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) voiced its discontent over the delay in summoning the Manipur Legislative Assembly session, despite repeated appeals for an emergency session. 

Okram Ibobi Singh, leader of the Congress Legislature Party, expressed his concern about the lack of action in convening the assembly session, emphasizing that the government alone knows the reason for the delay. Singh highlighted that it is constitutionally mandatory to hold the assembly session promptly.