The curious case of 10 Kuki MLAs
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: August 31, 2023 -

THE 4th session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly, which was convened for a one day only on August 29 but adjourned within minutes of commencing the house proceedings without any meaningful discussion on the crisis besieging the state for nearly four months now, may have help the BJP government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh to avoid a constitutional crisis in the state and save itself from the ignominy of facing dissolution, but the question surrounding the fate of the 10 Kuki MLAs including seven from the ruling party who have raised the demand for a separate administration for the people of Kuki-Zo community in the state within days of outbreak of the crisis still remains unanswered.

Understanding the implication of their absence from the assembly session in the light of Article 75 (5) and 164 (4) of the Indian Constitution, which clearly states that membership of an elected member of state assembly or Parliament will cease if he/she fails to take part in the assembly/ Parliament session in six months; six of them, namely, Social Welfare and Co-operation Minister Nemcha Kipgen (Kangpokpi AC), Tribal Affairs and Hills Minister Let'pao Haokip (Tengnoupal AC), LM Khaute (Churachandpur AC), Kimneo Hangshing (Saikul AC), Letzamang Haokip (Henglep AC) and Haokholet Kipgen (Saitu AC) had sought leave from taking part in the assembly session citing security seasons and health problems.

As there is no doubt that the Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly, who has so far not taken up any action against the 10 Kuki MLAs for their conduct which are unbecoming of elected representatives sworn in under the Constitution of the country, would not even dare to think of turning down the leave applications, one can rest assured that the membership of the six Kuki MLAs who managed to send in their leave applications in time would remain intact.

What decision the Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly would be taking regarding the membership of the remaining four Kuki MLAs who failed to submit their leave applications from taking part in the assembly session and are now clearly in conflict with the law of the land is not known at the moment.

In fact, it is hard to expect that the Speaker would be doing anything in this regard as he had been all along shying away from taking up any action against the 10 Kuki MLAs despite strong pressures from various quarters. But among the four Kuki MLAs who are facing the risk of losing their membership of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, we dare say, the case of Vungzagin Valte, a BjP MLA elected from Thanlon AC, who is currently undergoing medical treatment outside the state following violent attack by mobs in Imphal in the early stage of the current crisis, is the only one that may, perhaps, be exempted from the purview of the Constitutional provisions cited earlier.

While we wait to see how the Speaker is going to take on the task lying before him, it is interesting to note here that despite raising the demand for a separate administration for the people Kuki-Zo community in the state, none of the 10 Kuki MLAs have ever shown any inclination towards resigning from the membership of the Manipur Legislative Assembly at any point of time, which otherwise would have strengthened their cause, nor have they articulated the decision to boycott the assembly session.

It was the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) and other Kuki organisations which had not only announced that the Kuki MLAs would boycott the assembly session but also strongly objected to convening of the assembly session when the prevailing situation is not at all conducive for the Kuki MLAs to attend.

Does this mean that regardless of whether or not one had applied for leave from taking part in the state assembly session as per provisions of the Constitution, the sword of Damocles will continue to hang heavy over the heads of all the 10 Kuki MLAs?