The Bharatiya Janata Party got a boost in the Christian-majority northeastern state of Mizoram this Thursday when the party’s M. Laikaw was sworn in as the new Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) in south Mizoram’s Siaha district. The council constituted for Mara people consists of 28 members — 25 of them are elected and the rest are nominated. The new CEM of MADC also appointed 9 Executive Members — 7 from the BJP and two from the three resigned Mizo National Front (MNF) councillors.
Elections to the council took place in May this year where the BJP emerged as the largest party by winning 12 seats, one short of the majority. The MNF, the state’s ruling party, bagged nine while the Congress won four seats. After many political talks, the two archrivals MNF and Congress came together to form the government in the council. This, however, happened against the wishes of the state leadership of the grand old party, which was against any type of alliance with either the MNF or the BJP, and actually wanted to seat in the Opposition.
Unhappy with the MNF-Congress government in MADC, three of the MNF councillors resigned and supported the BJP in toppling the government. The three MNF councillors wanted to align with the BJP as the MNF is a constituent of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a BJP-led conglomeration of the non-Congress regional parties of the region. But the MNF wasn’t very eager to ally with the BJP. Not only this, state cabinet minister K. Beichhua, an MLA from Siaha assembly constituency, had to resign as asked by Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who was unhappy with him for supporting the proposal of the three disgruntled MNF councillors.
According to some reports, there are rumours that the resigned minister is likely to join the BJP. Two assembly seats — Siaha and Palak — fall under the MADC. Last time, the BJP lost the Palak seat to the MNF by a margin of 6% while it came third in the Siaha seat and got 14% votes. Now that the BJP is in power in MADC, it is likely to be in a good position in the two assembly seats. The state is slated to go to elections next year. In the last elections of 2018, the BJP opened its account in the state for the first time.
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Tripura: Sacked School Teachers Gherao CM Manik Saha’s Residence
A section of sacked school teachers protested outside the residence of Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha this Thursday, demanding a permanent solution to their issues related to jobs. Notably, a total of 10,323 teachers recruited by the previous Manik Sarkar-led Left Front government lost their jobs as a result of a Tripura High Court verdict in 2014, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court.
The HC decision wasn’t meant for all the 10,323 teachers but officials during the Left government misinterpreted the verdict and retrenched all the teachers. It was one of the main issues that generated anger against the Left government, resulting in the end of its 25-year rule.
The then opposition BJP had promised to solve the issue if it came to power. However, it has been almost five years since but the BJP government too has failed to solve the issue — which is now used by Opposition parties to attack the BJP. This is going to be an important issue in the upcoming elections. The agitating teachers have already said they are going to intensify their movement if their demands are not met.
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Meghalaya: Another Jolt To Congress Ahead Of Elections
The Opposition Congress received another jolt this week when two of its suspended MLAs, Ampareen Lyndogh and Mahendra Ropsang, resigned from and joined the ruling National People’s Party (NPP). Chief Minister Conrad Sangma-led NPP was quick to declare Ampareen and Mahendra as candidates of East and West Shillong seats, respectively.
In February this year, the Congress had suspended all its five MLAs for unilaterally supporting the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, where the BJP too is a constituent. In the last elections, the grand old party emerged as the single largest party by winning 21 seats in the 60-member Meghalaya assembly. However, the NPP along with the BJP and other regional parties like the United Democratic Party (UDP), the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) came together to form the MDA.
Later, 12 Congress MLAs led by former CM Mukul Sangma, unhappy with the Congress central leadership, decided to leave the party and joined the Trinamool Congress, which immediately became the main Opposition party in the assembly. Elections to the state are less than three months away and the Congress is in a state of disarray. Currently, it has only three MLAs — and all of them are suspended from the party. For how long they remain in the party is something to be seen.
It’s a fact that the Congress failed to keep its flock together. It also failed to function properly as the main Opposition party and corner the NPP-led government, which has been facing corruption allegations. This is definitely going to have a negative effect on the grand old party in the upcoming elections as perceptions do matter.
Keeping Alive The Pressure For Frontier Nagaland
The Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) has reaffirmed its decision to boycott the upcoming 2023 Nagaland assembly elections if its demand of separate Frontier Nagaland isn’t met by the Centre. Out of 60 assembly constituencies, 20 fall under the eastern Nagaland.
Interestingly, the Centre too is quite interested in this issue. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had sent a three-member fact-finding team headed by Advisor (North-East) AK Mishra to the state. The delegation was on a three-day visit and held a series of meetings with CM Neiphiu Rio, senior state government officials, ENPO leaders, tribal hohos and civil society organisations.
Before returning to New Delhi this week, the delegation had invited the ENPO to New Delhi for another round of meeting. All this is happening when the much-awaited Naga Peace deal is yet to see the light of the day, though the state wishes for a peaceful solution to the matter before the upcoming elections.
The author is a political commentator.
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