New Delhi: Manipur governor, Anusuiya Uikey, has summoned the fourth session of the Manipur legislative assembly on August 29.The notification from the Manipur legislative assembly’s secretariat, dated August 21, comes after a special session of the assembly, recommended by the cabinet for August 21, could not take place on the day as Uikey had not given her permission for it.The session aimed to discuss the ongoing ethnic violence in the state.The lack of a ceremonial nod from Governor Uikey had led to questions on the governor’s role and as to whether such circumstances can lead to what opposition leaders had called a “constitutional crisis.”The notification dated the same day says that Uikey has called for the “4th Session of the Twelfth Manipur Legislative Assembly to meet at 11.00 AM on Tuesday, the 29th August, 2023 in the Assembly Hall, Imphal.”As The Wire has reported, the assembly has 60 members. Out of them, 10 MLAs from the Kuki community had refused to attend the session citing the lack of safety in Imphal. Ten MLAs from the Naga community had been asked by the apex body of the Nagas in Manipur, the United Naga Council (UNC), to boycott this session.Among the 40 other MLAs from the valley, many are from a BJP rebel camp which had been asking for a change in guard even before the violence began.
