Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joykumar has been stripped of all his portfolios after four Ministers of his National People’s Party (NPP) were asked to resign from the BJP-led coalition government.
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A notification issued by Chief Secretary J. Suresh Babu on Thursday said Mr. Joykumar, a former DGP, had been made Minister without portfolio. It said Mr. Joykumar’s portfolios including that of Forest, Environment and Climate Change had been reallocated to the Chief Minister.
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Earlier in the day, the BJP asked the NPP Ministers to resign because of the “irresponsible and derogatory” remarks Mr. Joykumar had allegedly made about the Chief Minister. The Deputy CM had reportedly referred to N. Biren Singh as a “mentally-deranged person” when a group of women met him to complain about not receiving ration rice due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
A reaction from the NPP, which has four MLAs in the 60-member Assembly, was awaited.
