AIZAWL:
The relationship between the ruling Mizoram National Front (MNF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be “on the rocks” in the state.
Of late both the parties, which are partners in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre and North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), seem to have been locking horns to outdo each other in the wake of the upcoming 2023 polls.
And making scathing attack at the ruling Zoramthanga-led party on April 27, the saffron party accused the MNF of embezzling COVID-19 funds it received from the Centre.
“During the last three waves of pandemic, the Central government has provided a lot of funds to Mizoram. It appears that the funds did not reach the people,” Ajay Jamwal, the BJP general secretary (organisation) in-charge of the Northeast, said while addressing party workers at the BJP office in Aizawl.
Jamwal also accused the MNF of playing double standards in its relation with the BJP. “In Delhi, they are BJP’s friends. In Mizoram, they are BJP’s foes whose sole interest is to overthrow the BJP government (at Mara autonomous district council) and preventing the saffron party from coming to power in the Assembly. They are like chameleons that keep changing colours,” he lashed out at the incumber government.
Notably, despite being partners in NDA and NEDA, the MNF, has been keeping its distance from BJP in Mizoram for fear of getting anti-Christian image in the Christian-majority Mizoram where influences of churches are huge. With just one legislator, Mizoram is the only state in the Northeast where the BJP is yet to have a firm footing.
Jamwal, in an apparent reaction to MNF minister Robert Romawia Royte’s remarks that the central BJP gave more preference to the MNF than its Mizoram unit, said, “Why would central BJP leaders come here to campaign if it had trusted the MNF more than the party’s own state unit. Central BJP leaders, including union ministers coming here to campaign clearly shows that they don’t trust the MNF government.”
Earlier on April 26, Royte, while campaigning for Mara ADC elections, had claimed that the central BJP leaders preferred MNF over Mizoram state BJP.
In the elections to the 25-seat Mara Autonomous District Council in southern Mizoram, it is the MNF and BJP who are fighting to gain the upper hand. The Mara ADC is currently ruled by the BJP.
Jamwal also expressed confidence that the BJP will form the next government in Mizoram. “In the 2023 Assembly elections, BJP will surely emerge victorious to form the government in the state. I request the people of Mizoram to have a clear vision for the future and work with the party,” he said.
Slamming the MNF for being a corrupted party, Jamwal appealed to the people to overthrow the government and lay their trust in the saffron party. “Overthrow the corrupt MNF government and vote BJP to power to let the Centre’s blessings flow into the state,” he said, promising a “special package” from the Prime Minister to the state if voted to power.
However, this is not the first time the two parties are training guns at each other. In the most recent case, the state BJP, on April 26, submitted a complaint to the state Lokayukta to probe the alleged mismanagement in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Again, in February this year, the state BJP had demanded President’s Rule in Mizoram owing to the “lawlessness prevailing in the state under MNF rule”. In 2020, the BJP’s Mizoram unit had asked MNF to pull out of NDA and NEDA, in a sharp reaction to MNF president and chief minister Zoramthanga’s remarks that his party did not like BJP’s ideology and they did not consider BJP “a good party”.