The fruit of intense infighting : Now 3 ACs without MLAs
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 29 2015 -
Now three Assembly Constituencies without Members of Legislative Assembly.
Not a pretty picture and while no one would have wanted such a scenario in the first place, there is a reason why Parliament came up with the idea of a stringent anti-defection Bill.
Down the years Manipur had earned a certain degree of notoriety with the MLAs changing their political affiliations, not on any ground of ideologies or to make Manipur a better place, but for reasons which should be obvious to all.
A sad tale it must be for the three MLAs who have been suspended from the Assembly and while they may or not appeal against the ruling of the Speaker’s Tribunal, already an unsavoury tale has been scripted.
Not the time to take sides, but what has happened is an indication that the All India Trinamool Congress is yet to take roots here.
Sure, some of its candidates may have been elected in the 2012 Assembly election, but the suspension of the three MLAs more than say that the party is yet to spread meaningfully beyond the borders of West Bengal.
With no grass root workers or anyone who genuinely identify with the ideologies and politics of the AITC, it may be said that the candidates got elected from the party’s ticket purely on their personal appeal.
A point which has been highlighted by the pronouncement of Kh Joykishan to the media after his suspension. That the MLA in question here has deemed it better to take comfort from the trust and confidence of the voters is an evidence that he made it more on his own than the support extended by the AITC.
The same may be true in the case of the two other MLAs. As things stand today, another MLA from the same party may face the same fate when the final hearing comes up on June 6.
Not yet clear when the mid-term polls to the three Assembly segments of Thangmeiband, Wangoi and Thongju will be held, but already a point has been delivered. That is nobody can play around with the provisions of the 10th Schedule.
Trouble started soon after the AITC did remarkably well winning seven seats in the 2012 Assembly election in the person of Kh Joykishan (Thangmeiband), O Lukhoi (Wangoi), Th Biswajit (Thongju), Th Shyamkumar (Andro), K Sarat (Konthoujam), Dr I Ibohalbi (Oinam) and the late M Kunjo (Hiyanglam).
However soon after the election, trouble started brewing within the State unit of the AITC and some MLAs floated the Manipur Pradesh Trinamool Congress.
This was when a complaint was lodged with the Tribunal Court of the Legislative Assembly under Schedule 10 seeking their disqualification.
It must have been a harrowing period for the Speaker and Assembly staff to conduct the hearings and come to a conclusion.
The conclusion has been reached in the suspension of the three said MLAs.
Already a number of political pundits must have started gazing at the crystal ball and expounding on the latest development, but tough to say which way the wind will blow.
Will the voters still back the three MLAs and others who may follow suit ? Only time can tell when the mid-term polls are held.
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