Aizawl: In yet another setback for the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram, three members of the district council (MDCs) in Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) quit the party, a resigned leader said on Tuesday.
The development came a week after K. Beichhua from the Siaha constituency resigned as the minister of state after he was allegedly told by Chief Minister Zoramthanga to resign.
Three MNF members – Lalrosanga, J Beikiasa and Lalremthanga, who voted in favour of toppling the MNF-Congress coalition government from power recently, submitted their resignation from party’s primary membership to Zoramthanga, the party president, on Monday, Lalrosanga said.
He said they quit the MNF as Zoramthanga allegedly failed to keep his promise to form a coalition government with BJP under the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) banner.
He further said that they were also not happy with the works of their friends (MNF and Congress MDCs) and voted against the MNF-Congress coalition government after receiving the Chief Minister’s consent. “As we are not happy with the works of our friends, we approached our minister (Beichhua) and then the Chief Minister, who verbally agreed to our proposal to form a coalition government with BJP under the NEDA banner. However, the chief minister backtracked from his word leaving us in an awkward situation,” Lalrosanga said.
Considering we are at the wrong place, we resigned from the party membership, he added.
Concerning the political instability and non-formation of government in the MADC, all NGOs in the Mara council area also urged the three MNF members to quit the party to ensure that a stable government is formed at the earliest, Lalrosanga also said. He said that the three resigned MNF members formed a joint legislature party with the BJP and staked a claim to form a government in Mara council on Monday.
Meanwhile, MNF vice president Vanlalzawma claimed that the chief minister did not tell the three members that they should form a coalition government with the BJP after voting out the coalition government with Congress.
“The Chief Minister rather discussed the matter with Beichhua and instructed him that they should not keep aloof from the BJP as MNF is also part of the NEDA headed by the BJP. The chief minister didn’t directly talk to the three members about the formation of a NEDA government. The issue has been twisted and the three members are making lame excuses,” the MNF vice president said.
Vanlalzawma also said that BJP leaders had also met the chief minister over the formation of a coalition government in MADC in September.
The MADC polls held in May threw up a ‘hung council’ as no contesting parties could win a majority. The BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 12 out of 25 seats, while the MNF won 9 seats and Congress bagged 4.
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After a political impasse for more than three weeks, four Congress members allied with its state arch-rival MNF against the disapproval of party headquarters in Aizawl.
The MNF-Congress coalition government was sworn in on June 1 after Chief Executive Member (CEM) H. Malvina of Congress won a vote of confidence motion.
Six months after the MNF-Congress coalition government was sworn in, it was toppled from power by the BJP backed by the three resigned MNF members on November 25.
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