Manipur/Nagaland: Opposition leaders submit letter to governors seeking the right to form governmentIn response to the Karnataka governor’s decision to give the first opportunity to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government in the state on the grounds of being the single largest party, opposition leaders in Manipur and Nagaland approached the respective Raj Bhavans on May 18 seeking dismissal of governments in both the states and invite their parties to form a government, as they had the highest number of seats as a single entity in the last assembly polls.Manipur Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh has sought dismissal of the state government. Credit: PTIWhile in Imphal, former chief minister and Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh led the state Congress Legislature Party to the Raj Bhavan to hand over the letter staking claim to Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi, who is temporary in-charge of Manipur, the former Nagaland chief minister and Naga People’s Front (NPF) leader T R Zeliang urged governor P.B Acharya to do the same.After the March 2017 elections in Manipur, Congress emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats, three short of the majority mark. However, governor Najma Heptullah invited the BJP to form a government even though it had only 21 seats. In Nagaland, too, though the NPF had 26 members after the March 2018 elections, five short of the majority mark, the Nationalist Democratic People’s Party (NDPP), with just 19 seats, was called by governor Acharya to form a government along with BJP’s 12 members.Speaking to reporters after submitting the letter, Ibobi said all governors needed to follow the same principle and he had requested Mukhi to dismiss the BJP-led government and instead invite him to form the government. “If the government invites us to form the government, I will prove the majority on the floor of the House within 15 days, as given to the BJP by the governor of Karnataka, or even earlier,” he said. Mukhi reportedly said he would look into the matter even though he was not the regular governor of the state.In Nagaland, the NPF urged the governor to invite it to form a government as it was the single largest party. “Why should there be different laws applied in different state on the same matter?” read a statement issued to the press by Zeliang’s office. It further sought 15 days’ time to prove majority on the floor of the house.Though in Meghalaya, the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 20 seats after the March 2018 elections, the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) equalled the tally after the by-polls in Williamnagar recently. The party led a protest, nevertheless, against the Karnataka governor’s move to call the single largest party to form a government while the Meghalaya governor did not do so even though the Congress was then the single largest party. State Congress president Celestine Lyngdoh told reporters at a press meet in Shillong that they were waiting for the May 28 by-polls in the Ampati constituency (vacated by Mukul Sangma of Congress) to decide who would emerge as the single largest party and thereafter would take a call on whether to approach the governor or not.Ibobi Singh told reporters on May 18 that his party would wait till May 19, for the governor to take a call and if not invited, would thereafter decide the next course of action.Tripura: BJP govt razes down offices of opposition parties claiming they are illegally occupiedSeveral offices of the opposition Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) have been demolished by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Tripura since May 7, as part of a drive to claim government land occupied “illegally”. Nearly 300 notices have been served to political offices belonging to Congress, CPI (M) and some regional parties, drawing a strong objection to it from the opposition. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury takes stock after ‘attacks’ on party offices a few days ago. Credit: Special ArrangementA letter issued by the state government after a cabinet meeting on April 17, said, “After field survey, it has been found that some of the party offices are built on government khas/departmental land, so you are hereby directed to vacate the concerned party offices built on the government land within seven days of receipt of this letter.”As per local media reports, as many as 11 structures were razed in the West Tripura and Dhallai districts of the state till May 14, as part of the drive.In West Tripura, besides three offices of Congress, one of CPI(M), three trade union offices affiliated to BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh were also demolished. In Dhallai district, three party offices of CPI(M) and a shed rented by the BJP were brought down.Though the parties had urged the state government to stop the drive, the district officials said strict orders had been passed by the administration to continue the drive. While former chief minister and CPI (M) leader Manik Sarkar termed this an “attack on democracy and democratic activities”, veteran Congress leader Gopal Chandra Roy was quoted in the local media as claiming that the drive was in violation of section 14 and 15 of the Tripura Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act. He said his party would not only start a state-wide agitation against the demolition but would also seek legal help.Mizoram: Opposition leader and ex-CM Zoramthanga files defamation suitMizo National Front (MNF) president and former Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga has filed a criminal defamation case against an Aizawl-based Congress worker over the mysterious death, in 2007, of Reverend Khatia Chanchinwala, a pastor who was known across the state for leading a strong campaign for socio-political reforms during the then MNF rule.Zoramthanga’s complaint was in response to a report published in the state Congress bulletin, Congress Thlifim, which quoted the Congress worker Thansanga accusing the Opposition leader of plotting the October 2007 death of Chanchinmawia, who was then the Mizoram Presbyterian Synod moderator and pastor. Though it is for the first time Zoramthanga has taken a legal step against Thansanga, in 2017, his party had filed an FIR against him when he issued a statement making the same accusations.Mizo National Front Leader Zoramthanga has filed a criminal defamation case against an Aizawl-based Congress worker over the mysterious death of a pastor. Credit: YouTubeIn his May 17 complaint, filed at the court of magistrate H Lalduhsanga, the Opposition leader called it a “baseless allegation”, which he said, “went viral on social media” and it defiled his reputation. Seeking “appropriate action” against Thansanga, he said besides being the MNF chief, he served the state as the chief minister for two terms and his reputation could be tarnished by the report.The mysterious death of the pastor had created a sensation in the state then. Rev. Chanchinmawia was found dead inside his quarter at Khatia in Aizawl with multiple injuries. The then Zoramthanga government set up a special investigation team of the state police to investigate the murder. The SIT, which submitted its report in December 2007, couldn’t find any evidence of murder and termed it a suicide. Thereafter, in August 2008, the MNF government handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which too didn’t find any foul play.After taking over the reins of the state in December 2008, Congress chief minister Lalthanhawla expressed doubt over the CBI probe. In February 2009, he told a meeting convened for the newly elected MLAs by the Presbyterian Church, a powerful body in the state, “It (the CBI report) is very doubtful. They submitted the report too soon.”In 2017, the mysterious death of the pastor came to light again when two separate FIRs were filed in the Aizawl district court, one by MNF, and the other by B Zorampara, president of the former MNF rebel group, PAMPA (Peace Accord MNF Returnees Association), against Thansanga, who alleged , for the first time, that Zoramthanga had a hand behind the death. In a statement, issued on February 27, 2017, Thansanga then alleged that Zoramthanga offered him Rs 10 lakhs to murder the influential pastor.“As I refused to kill a pastor, he then turned to B Zorampara (who was then a peon in the state Finance Department). Zorampara accepted the offer and then hired militants from Manipur to carry out the task.”Thansanga further alleged that after the pastor’s death, the militants went to the chief minister’s house but was offered only Rs 7 lakh, which they refused to accept. “Then, CM telephoned Aizawl SP office. The police immediately arrested the militants with guns and explosives from the residence of Zorampara. When I heard of the arrests, I rushed to Aizawl police station to be told that the militants would be sent back to Manipur without filing a case.”