Biren Govt wins confidence motion by voice vote
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 10 2020: A confidence motion moved by Chief Minister N Biren was passed by the State Assembly through voice vote.

The motion of confidence was discussed as the final agenda of the one-day Assembly session held today.

Notably, Opposition Congress moved three motions of no confidence against the BJP-led coalition Government and the party issued whip to all its members.

BJP responded by issuing whips to its own members.

However, the no confidence motions moved by the Congress were rejected by the Speaker.

Biren Govt wins confidence motion by voice vote

Whereas all the 28 members of the ruling coalition took part in discussing the motion of confidence, eight out of the 24 Congress MLAs were not seen inside the Assembly hall.

The Congress MLAs who stayed away from discussing the motion of confidence are Ngamthang Haokip, Md Abdul Nasir, O Lukhoi, Md Fajur Rahim, O Henry, P Brojen, Ginsuanhao and Yamthong Haokip.

Raising the motion of confidence, Chief Minister N Biren claimed that people have full faith in the Government's Council of Ministers which is around three years and five months old.

The Government has been working sincerely for the welfare of people.

Apart from tackling the COVID-19 issue, the Government has been implementing several development pro- grammes, Biren said.

Nonetheless, he conceded that there were difference of opinions among the Ministers and coalition partners.

As these internal differences came out to the open, the Opposition party, driven a strong motive to topple the Government, claimed that the Government has become a minority in the State Assembly, Biren said.

Talking about the COVID-19 issue, the Chief Minister claimed that it is not very difficult to keep the contagion at bay if people are aware about it.

Community transmission would remain far off as long as contact tracing can be done to the best level, he said.

He also conveyed gratitude to the Members of the House, healthcare workers, police, CSOs and NGOs for their contributions in tackling the contagion.

People of the State experienced a happy tide after the incumbent Government was sworn in.

The Government's campaigns and programmes like Go to Hills, Go to Village, Meeyamgi Numit, Hill Leaders' Day etc received widespread appreciation from the masses, he claimed.

ILPS has been enforced, police-public relation has improved considerably, 1600 drug related cases were registered against which 160 people were convicted.

Moreover, around 1500 militants were arrested, Biren informed the House.

Many infrastructure development projects are being implemented in hill districts, said the Chief Minister.

Raising strong objection against the motion of confidence, Opposition leader O Ibobi contended that the coalition Government is not transparent since the very beginning.

The coalition Government has no name, there is no steering committee, nor common minimum programme.

The Government has no aim and object and it is being run by a single individual like dictatorship, Ibobi said.

He further accused the Government of undermining and threatening all democratic institutions.

The Government should not certify its own performance but it should be determined by the public, Ibobi said.

He said that most of the Ministers have serious grievances against the Chief Minister.

Although Congress party has nothing to do with the grievances of Ministers, it evoked a question why they are unhappy with their own leader and it exposed how the Government is being run in the form of dictatorship, Ibobi said.

Raising the issue of Lhukhosei Zou, the ex-Chief Minister stated people's suspicion can never be put at rest until and unless the high profile drug seizure case is handed over to CBI.

Even as the Government has been making tall claims about its 'War on Drugs', huge quantities of betel leaves were imported by air cargo amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Raising strong objection against the motion of confidence, the Opposition leader urged the Speaker to decide the motion by division vote instead of voice vote.

Ex-Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam said that people of the State do not have any trust in the BJP-led Government as its words and actions are totally incompatible.

Asserting that the Government is only good at churning out volumes of propaganda through social media, Gaikhangam challenged the Government to point out a few noteworthy deeds it had accomplished.

After listening to the points raised by Opposition Members, Speaker Y Khemchand came up with a proposal to decide the motion by voice vote.

Saying that eight Congress MLAs were not present in the Assembly hall despite issuing whip, Ibobi urged the Speaker to decide the motion by division vote.

The Speaker, nonetheless, took up due proceeding to decide the motion of confidence by voice vote, after pointing out that both Congress and BJP issued whips.

Aggrieved and infuriated by the Speaker's decision to decide the motion by voice vote, some Opposition Members vandalised furniture items of the Assembly hall.

Amidst the ruckus created by Opposition Members, the House passed the motion of confidence moved by the Chief Minister.

In the next moment, the Speaker adjourned the House session sine die and walked out of the Assembly hall.