Aizawl: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Mizoram has filed a formal complaint with the state Director General of Police (DGP), Anil Shukla, regarding the alleged disappearance of a member of the Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC), who recently joined the Saffron party after quitting the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM).
State BJP general secretary Lalthangmawii, in a letter submitted to the DGP on Thursday, alleged that a group of anti-social elements, suspected to be ZPM workers, waylaid and abducted Tuturu Singh, a district council member who recently quit the ZPM, near Lunglei town in south Mizoram while he was travelling to Aizawl on Wednesday.
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The letter said Singh had resigned from the ZPM and decided to join the BJP, and was traveling to Aizawl for his formal induction into the Saffron party.
The miscreants allegedly pulled Singh out of his vehicle and took him to Lawngtlai town, it said. Expressing concern about the safety of Singh and his family members, the BJP, in its letter, urged the DGP to take necessary action and initiate legal action against the perpetrators at the earliest.
The alleged incident follows the resignation of Singh and N. Zangura, another ZPM member in the LADC, from the primary membership of ZPM on Wednesday.
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Singh served as the deputy chief whip, while Zangura acted as an adviser to the Chief Executive Member (CEM) in the current ZPM-led administration of the LADC, headed by CEM V. Zirsanga. The BJP inducted Zangura on Thursday.
In a new dramatic political twist, the BJP and its NDA partner, Mizo National Front (MNF) formed a joint legislature party and staked claim to form the next executive committee in the 25-member LADC, threatening to unseat the two-month old ZPM led dispensation recently.
The joint legislature party, led by its chairman Zangura, met Governor Vijay Kumar Singh and submitted a petition claiming majority in the council on Wednesday, state BJP president Vanlalhmuaka said.
Vanlalhmuaka expressed hope that Singh may announce the formation of the new executive body led by the BJP this week.
He said the BJP inducted one more MDC from the ZPM on Friday, raising the party’s total strength in the council to three, including Singh.
Officials said that the Governor is yet to decide and appoint Zangura as the next CEM of the LADC.
With 11 members from the MNF, the BJP-MNF combine claimed that it has the majority with 14 members to form the next government in the LADC, surpassing the majority mark of 13 needed to form the executive committee.
Vanlalhmuaka said that lone Congress member C. Lalmuanthanga has also decided to support the proposed BJP-MNF combine dispensation.
Notably, the government created the LADC in 1972 for the Lai tribal people as one of the three ADCs in southern Mizoram, and established its headquarters in Lawngtlai. The council comprises 25 elected members and 4 nominated members.
In the last LADC polls held in December 2020, the then ruling party MNF secured a majority by winning 20 out of 25 seats, while the BJP and Congress each won one seat, and voters elected three independent candidates.
Since then, the LADC has undergone a ‘change of the guard’ at least four times, with the latest being when authorities inducted the ZPM-led executive committee headed by V. Zirsanga on February 27 this year.
Officials added that the ZPM now has 10 members, MNF-11, BJP-3 (including Singh), and Congress has 1 member.