Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday said the political upheaval in Manipur was due to the style of functioning of chief minister N. Biren Singh.

Conrad, who is also the national president of the National People’s Party (NPP), whose four legislators left the BJP-led coalition in Manipur, narrated how Singh had earlier gone ahead to snatch portfolios from his party’s ministers and even interfered in their work.

The withdrawal of support by the four NPP legislators followed after three legislators from the BJP resigned. A Trinamul Congress legislator and an Independent also withdrew their support from the Singh-led government.

The Biren Singh-led BJP government in Manipur plunged into a political crisis when at least nine legislators from the ruling alliance, including three from the party, resigned on Wednesday.

The Opposition Congress claimed that it has the numbers to form the government.

Speaking to reporters here, Conrad said, “The situation that is unfolding in Manipur has a lot to do with the leadership out there. It is more of an individual-based issue.”

He said there were some concerns regarding the leadership of the Manipur chief minister and there were situations where some of the portfolios were taken away from some of the NPP ministers and there was also “interference”.

“So there were some concerns by the ministers. We have raised the issues at the level of the central BJP leadership. Whatever the case may be, since we decided to work together we continued,” the NPP chief said.

He said it was only when the three legislators from the BJP had resigned that the situation aggravated.

“I think that triggered the sequence of events that we are seeing now.”

He said in a coalition government, there should be continuous dialogue to resolve even small issues before they become big.

“I am not here to blame anybody but maybe they were not able to resolve those situations, which led to the building up. We are discussing and we will see how to move in the future,” he said.

Conrad said two NPP national general secretaries from Mizoram and Nagaland have been sent to Manipur to assess the situation. The two leaders will submit a report to the party after their visit.

On whether the Manipur situation would be replicated in Meghalaya, the NPP president replied in the negative.

“Yesterday, we had a discussion with leaders from other political parties. Even in that discussion, we assured everybody that the Manipur situation will not impact Meghalaya,” he said.

Conrad has been leading the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government since March 2018.

This alliance of 41 legislators comprises the NPP, BJP, United Democratic Party (UDP), People’s Democratic Front (PDF), Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), Khun Hynñiewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM), NCP and Independents.

The Opposition Congress has 19 legislators in a 60-Member Assembly.