Aizawl: In an effort to revamp the Congress unit of Mizoram, party president Lalsawta inducted former state chief secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo as the party’s vice president, according to a party leader.
Lal Thanzara, the current vice president, a former minister and the younger brother of 5-time Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla was appointed as senior vice president, the leader said.
The party executive committee approved the appointments, the leaders said.
The induction of Chuaungo as Vice President was an attempt to revamp the MPCC ahead of the state assembly elections since he had earned public sympathy when he was removed as the state’s home principal secretary a few weeks before the 2018 state assembly polls.
Chuaungo, a Gujarat cadre IAS officer of the 1987 batch, was removed and transferred to Delhi following a complaint filed by the then state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) SB Shashank that the former had interfered in the poll process.
SB Shashank had reportedly sought the deployment of additional central armed police forces, to which Chuaungo had allegedly objected.
The former CEO had also accused Chuaungo of objecting to the use of identification slips of Bru voters for any other purpose except repatriation.
The removal of Chuaungo and the alleged ‘pro-Bru’ stance of Shashank irked the state government, political parties and civil societies.
On November 6 and 7, 2018 a state-wide protest was staged by the NGO Coordination Committee, a conglomerate of major civil societies and student organizations, which compelled the Election Commission of India (ECI) to remove Shashank.
When Chuaungo returned to the state to assume the CS office in February 2019, he was accorded a hero’s welcome.
Chuaungo retired as the state chief secretary in October 2021, after which he was appointed as chief information commissioner (CIC).
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He recently quit the CIC post to join politics.
Subsequently, he joined Congress on June 20 to strengthen the party ahead of the assembly polls due later this year.
Still weighed down by the anti-incumbency wave and the recent internal squabble, the party could not surge its influence to take on the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) as of now.
In the present 40-member Mizoram assembly, Congress has only 5 members.
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