Fifty-nine newly elected members of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly on Monday took oath at the Manipur Assembly Hall, Imphal. The oath of office was administered by protem Speaker S Rajen Singh.
Rajen took oath as the protem Speaker one day earlier (on Sunday) at the Manipur Raj Bhawan in Imphal West.
Of the total 60 MLAs of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly, 20 members are new faces and five are females.
The 60 MLAs include 32 from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seven from National People’s Party (NPP), six from Janata Dal-United (JD-U), five each from Indian National Congress (INC) and Naga Peoples’ Front (NPF) and two from Kuki Peoples’ Alliance (KPA) and three independent candidates.
Caretaker chief minister N Biren told reporters after the oath-taking ceremony the inclusion of five women MLAs in the state Assembly is a great sign of women empowerment.
As most of the candidates are well qualified and have a good background of being social activists, it is believed that the upcoming new government's term will run smoothly.
Regarding the formation of a new state government, Biren said it will take some time as there are certain formalities which need to be followed.
The state BJP is expecting the arrival of its central observers in the state very soon to sort out the formation of the new government and appointment of the BJP legislature leader of Manipur, he added.
