AIZAWL: Mizoram governor Hari Babu Kambhampati has imposed governor’s rule in the Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC) in the southern part of the state and assumed all the powers and functions due to the constant change in the administration, an official said on Sunday.
The CADC was completely governed by the Mizo National Front (MNF) before governor rule was imposed on Friday, he said.
In a notification issued by the state district council and minority affairs department, the governor appointed the deputy commissioner of Lawngtlai district, within whose jurisdiction the CADC falls, as the caretaker on his behalf.
The deputy commissioner, on behalf of the governor, would exercise ‘functions or powers exercisable by the CADC with immediate effect for a period of six months until further order’.
The notification said that the last chief executive member (CEM) Buddha Lila Chakma resigned on November 11 and the resignation was accepted by the governor on November 17.
Former CEM Rasik Mohan Chakma staked his claim to be the sixth CEM (third time during the current 10th CADC) after the resignation of B.L. Chakma.
“The governor is of the firm opinion that this constant change of administration due to political manoeuvring is extremely damaging for the welfare of the CADC and its people,” the notification said.
The constant change in administration is certainly not what is intended by the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which envisions effective administration of the tribal areas, the notification also said.
The notification added that the absence of recruitment rules in the CADC, which resulted in the occurrence of a plethora of irregular activities, is a violation of the para 2(6)(h) of the Sixth Schedule, which states that there should be rules for appointment of staff of the district council.
Instability in the CADC government had begun a few months after the elections to the 20-member CADC held in April 2018 witnessed a hung council and the BJP, which won five seats decided to form the government with arch-rival Congress party (at the centre) which bagged seven seats, rather than its NDA ally the MNF having eight MDCs.
The post-poll alliance was forged despite strong disapproval from both Delhi and Aizawl.
Five governments in the CADC had been toppled since Shanti Jiban Chakma of the BJP was sworn in as Chief Executive Member (CEM) on May 4, 2018, after being elected leader of the United Legislature Party (ULP), formed by the BJP and the Congress.
The prolonged political instability had prompted the state Governor to propose dissolving the current Council and placing it under Governor’s rule earlier.
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However, the Governor in June this year decided not to impose the Governor’s Rule in the CADC for the time being which avoided direct confrontation with the present MNF regime, on June 6, acceding to the opinion of the Mizoram council of ministers led by chief minister Zoramthanga.
Meanwhile, BJP and Congress parties had demanded the dissolution of the CADC citing a frequent changes of the top job due to internal political tussles inside the ruling MNF party
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