GUWAHATI: A ruling BJP MLA in Manipur has asked the state’s 10 Kuki-Zo legislators to quit and contest from another state if they are not serious about working for peace and focused only on “separate administration” demand. Rajkumar Imo Singh, the BJP MLA, asked how these elected representatives, seven of them from his party, could find a solution to the ongoing turmoil in Manipur by talking to Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga.
“These so-called legislators seem to be attending office in another state. Are they all serious to bring a peaceful solution in our state? And how will that be possible by discussing with another state leader who has a different agenda?” Singh wrote on X, previously Twitter.
The Kuki-Zo legislators had a closed-door meeting with the Mizoram CM in Aizawl on Wednesday. Leaders of some Kuki-Zo civil society organisations also attended it. Singh said if these legislators continue to stick to their demand and are not serious in bringing about peace, he would urge them to resign from the Manipur Assembly.
“…it is morally not correct to remain in public office, take salary from the state and talk about division and separation from the state,” Singh said, adding that it is better to have legislators in these constituencies from other tribal communities who are willing to work unitedly for the state’s progress. The Kuki-Zo lawmakers raised the demand of separate administration after Manipur was virtually partitioned on ethnic lines in the wake of the violence.