GUWAHATI: The Congress on Tuesday, February 11 questioned why the Manipur assembly session has not been convened while alleging that it is a violation of the Constitution.
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Article 174 (1) of the Constitution lays down that there cannot be more than a six-month gap between two assembly sessions and, accordingly the session should have been summoned by February 11. The last assembly session had ended on August 12, 2024.
"Why is the Manipur Governor violating Article 174(1) by not summoning the Manipur Legislative Assembly for its constitutionally mandated assembly session?" Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh asked.
The governor had summoned the session to start on February 10, but declared his own notification as “null and void” hours after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned on February 9 evening.
The session was declared null and void because the BJP could not appoint a successor to the chief minister against whom the Congress was scheduled to move a no-confidence motion on the first day of the assembly session.
"Sensing the climate, the Manipur chief minister has just resigned. This was a demand that the Congress has been making since early May 2023, when Manipur erupted," Ramesh had earlier said.
Manipur has been in the grip of an ethnic conflict for nearly two years now during which more than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless.
