GUWAHATI: All seven parliamentary secretaries of Mizoram resigned Wednesday from their posts in deference to the Supreme Court ruling in July which struck down the practice of appointing parliamentary secretaries. All the seven who resigned are from the ruling Congress party. Following their resignation, Mizoram became the first state in the Northeast to implement the SC ruling. On July 26, the SC had ruled that state assemblies do not have the power to enact a law that enables them to appoint parliamentary secretaries.
Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla told the New Indian Express, “They resigned on their own volition to dedicate themselves to party work. They mentioned it in their resignation letter. I or, for that matter, the party leadership didn’t issue any directive asking them to quit their post.” He said the development would not trigger any dissent as it was their own decision to quit. One of them, Joseph Lalhimpuia, said there were two reasons for their resignation.
“The Supreme Court passed a judgment and we had to abide by it. Secondly, as Mizoram is going to the polls next year, we wanted to work for the party. So, we are quitting our post,” he said. He said the seven of them met at the party office in Aizawl Wednesday and made the decision. He confirmed there was no pressure on them to resign
Parliamentary secretaries are appointed as a matter of political convenience. Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya too have parliamentary secretaries and there will now be pressure on these states to implement the SC ruling.
Nagaland has 26 parliamentary secretaries and they are holding on to the post although demands have been raised with Governor PB Acharya to sack them.
Of the 59 Arunachal MLA’s, 24 are parliamentary secretaries. Manipur had 12 parliamentary secretaries, six of whom had resigned from the post ahead of the SC judgment, after being made members of various committees. Meghalaya has 17 parliamentary secretaries.