Aizawl: Mizoram sports minister Lalnghinglova Hmar on Monday denied the allegation that he violated model code of conduct (MCC) ahead of the Village Council (VC) and Local Council (LC) polls scheduled to be held on February 12.
Earlier, Hmar and state PWD minister Vanlalhlana have been served showcause notices and asked them to provide their explanations by Monday by the state election commission after the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) filed a complaint accusing the two Ministers of breaching the MCC.
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The MNF alleged that Vanlalhlana has violated MCC provision for virtually campaigning from his ministerial office for Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) party candidates in Aizawl’s Durtlang local council, a video footage of which has been circulated on social media.
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The MNF also alleged that Hmar had announced development plans and upcoming projects while meeting ZPM candidates in his constituency on January 27, which contravened the MCC provision.
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It said that a section of media have quoted Hmar as saying that the state government allocated over Rs. 45 crore for the development of Aizawl West-II constituency, including 25.35 crore for the construction of a market at Vaivakawn area.
Addressing a function at ZPM office in Aizawl on Monday, Hmar claimed that he did not announce any new projects which contravened the provisions of MCC but repeated the ongoing projects in his constituency, which have been already announced by the government before the imposition of MCC.
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He said that Aizawl West Outlet Project, an inter-locality link road project under SASCI part -III, which he mentioned during his meeting with party candidates, has already obtained administrative approval before the announcement of VC and LC polls.
He claimed that a market project at Vaivakawn area was also already approved by a State Level Committee on SASCI on January 7 and the same had been announced by an official statement through the state information and public relations department before the announcement of the elections.
All these projects are already approved by the government and they are not new projects, he added.
Hmar and Vanlalhlana submitted their explanations to the state election commission on Monday.
State election commissioner H. Lalthlangliana said that they are examining the explanations and they will soon make decision on the complaint.