Aizawl: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday took a swipe at BJP for abolishing Article 370 to Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that only Congress can safeguard the special provisions for Mizoram and other North-Eastern states.
“A government and a party that removed Article 370 can also remove 371 (G),” Ramesh said, while addressing a press conference here.
Mizoram is protected by Article 371(G), which prohibits the imposition of Central laws on the matters of the religious and social practices of the Mizos, civil and criminal law of the land, land ownership transfer and customary law procedure without the consent of the Mizoram Assembly.
“Article 371 (G) was inserted in February 1987 to the Indian Constitution when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister as a special provision to protect the Mizo way of life,” the Congress leader said.
Stating that the insertion of Article 371 (G) to the Constitution was one of the greatest contributions of the Congress to Mizoram that is under threat today, Ramesh said, “The BJP is the party that wants One nation, One language; One nation, One culture; One nation, One religion and One nation, One party is the BJP’s policy.”
Describing BJP as a “ghost party,” in the upcoming Mizoram polls, the Congress leader said, “It is a three-horse race with the MNF, INC and ZPM. There is a ghost party, the BJP. The power of the ghost over the other two parties, the ZPM and MNF, is known to everyone, as they are the gateway for BJP to enter Mizoram.”
“MNF and the ZPM are remote controlled by BJP. Therefore, a vote for the MNF, ZPM, is a vote for BJP. They are back door entry points for BJP,” Ramesh said.
“The strategy of the BJP all over the Northeast is to use regional parties to grab power. They did it in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, and now they are trying to do the same in Mizoram,” he added.
Taking a swipe at the ruling MNF, Ramesh said that the MNF is “tactically” claiming a split with the BJP, while both the parties are “two sides of the same coin.”
“The MNF, tactically, now says it is independent of the BJP. But we all know that MNF and BJP are two sides of the same coin. The ZPM is a relatively new party with no programme, no organisation, and no ideology,” he said.
Ramesh also expressed shock that in the last three years legitimate grants of the tune of Rs 3500 crore grants that were due to Mizoram from the Centre have not been received despite the MNF being part of the BJP-led NDA at the centre.
“Because the MNF failed to get the funds from the Centre, the agriculture budget, the education budget, and the health budget has been cut. With great fanfare SEDP was launched by the MNF government. It is nothing but the State Empty Development Promises,” he said.
“We have implemented guarantees in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and we are serious about the implementation of guarantees. The time is right for change in Mizoram and to preserve and protect the Mizo way of life. Only a national party like the Congress party can ensure a vote for preserving traditions, customs, and culture of Mizoram,” Ramesh said.
