The Manipur Congress has alleged that the BJP government in the state is ‘anti-tribal’ and ‘anti-hill’ for not holding the Autonomous District Council (ADC) election for the last four years.
Manipur has six ADCs and the delay in the election has raised concerns among tribal leaders, as new Congress member and former MLA Samuel Jendai and working president of MPCC, Victor Keishing, voiced their criticisism of the government’s handling of local governance and elections.
Speaking to the media on Friday at the Congress Bhawan, Samuel Jendai stressed the need for a timely district council election to ensure the representation of hill communities.
Mentioning resolution 59 of the Hill Area Committee (HAC), Samuel said that the Hill Area Committee, now mostly composed of tribal members, originated as a standing committee when Manipur was a territorial council. With Manipur’s statehood, it became a body overseeing local governance, particularly elections and administration, he added.
Highlighting that the resolution pertains to the long pending elections for district councils, as outlined in District Council Act, 1971, which is mandate election in every five years, with a possible one year extension, Samuel said that, the resolution has now been more than four years without any district council elections despite various being made.
The resolution passed by the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) under the Manipur Legislative Assembly on October 14, stated that the committee, following a threadbare discussion, unanimously resolved to “recommend to the government of Manipur to conduct the long pending Autonomous District Councils election as soon as possible.”
The HAC also informed that in order to run the administration of the ADCs, a committee consisting of 20 members for each ADC shall be constituted of whom 18 shall be elected from former ADC members/experts in local self-government/eminent persons/intellectuals and two government nominees of the district till the ADC election is conducted, he informed.
Samuel Jendai urged to withdraw the recommendation, highlighting the importance of grassroots democracy.
Moreover, Victor Keishing argued that robust democratic principles must begin at the local level to ensure the strength of governance at higher levels.
Keishing condemned the resolution and called for both district council and panchayat elections to be conducted promptly. He questioned tribal MLAs, asking if this is what they were elected for, stressing the Congress party’s opposition to the government’s recommendation.