[ Pisi Zauing ]
MIAO, 14 Jun: The people of Changlang district have expressed utter dismay and astonishment over the dropping of Miao MLA Kamlung Mossang from the 8th Legislative Assembly in the newly formed Pema Khandu government in the state.
The district’s residents said that the five-time MLA “automatically qualifies for a Cabinet berth in the state government, but astonishingly, not a single elected MLA of the district has been accommodated in the Cabinet.”
Changlang district has five assembly constituencies, out of which three sitting MLAs – of Miao, Changlang South and Changlang North – won the election on BJP tickets.
Since Changlang is the highest revenue-generating district and is infested with multiple problems, including insurgency, a Cabinet berth in every ministry ought to be mandatory, the public opined.
By dropping Mossang unceremoniously, the state BJP and the state government have brutally hurt the sentiments of the Tangsa, Singpho, Tutsa, Yobin and other communities inhabiting the district, they said.
“At a time when most BJP supporters of the eastern parliamentary constituency voted against its official MP candidate Tapir Gao, it was the electorate of Changlang district who exhibited loyalty to the ruling dispensation and voted in favour of the BJP and ensured Gao’s victory.
But it seems that ensuring Gao’s victory and strengthening the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pema Khandu has become a severe crime for Changlang district,” said a senor BJP leader of Kharsang.
Meanwhile, the Miao Singpho Ramma Hpung (MSRH) said: “Chief Minister Pema Khandu and the state unit of the BJP must answer why the elected MLAs of Changlang district don’t deserve a berth in the Cabinet. It must be answered how long Changlang district will continue to reel under the darkness of negligence.”
“If being loyal to the ruling party and the government is a crime, what are the criteria?” it questioned in a release.
