Ex-minister & Cong leader quits as treasurer of party's Mizoram unit

AIZAWL: Former minister and Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Zodintluanga Ralte quit as the treasurer of the Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Friday.
His resignation comes in the wake of the Congress debacle in the elections to the Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC), the Lunglei Municipal Council (LMC) and byelections to the local councils within the Aizawl Municipal Corporation.
While BJP swept the just-concluded MADC polls winning 41 of the 99 village councils, the Mizo National Front (MNF) could manage to win 25 village councils while Congress and the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) secured eight and two village councils respectively.
In his resignation letter, Ralte cited a number of instances when the state PCC chief Lalsawta took major decisions in the party organisational set-up.
He said there have been violations of Article III of the Constitution of the Indian National Congress and Article IV of the Constitution of the Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee.
"After you became the president of the MPCC in 2021, the spirit of collective responsibility and collective leadership as enshrined in the Constitution of the INC and MPCC has gone," he wrote in the resignation letter.
He said decisions were not made by the executive committee and other important committees while making changes or appointing members in different committees, including the district Congress and nomination committees.
The elected office-bearers, including himself (Ralte), were also not consulted on the appointment of the additional members of the nomination committee, he said, adding that the president took the decision on his own.
He further said after consulting a few people close to him, Lalsawta decided to dissolve the present Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the MPCC and form a fresh PAC.
"It was the present PAC which was in your favour and responsible for your elevation to the post of the vice-president and to the post of the state PCC chief," Ralte said.
He accused Lalsawta of ignoring his suggestions on the internal matters of the party and said there is no longer any reason for him to remain as one of the three elected members of the office-bearers of the state PCC.
"As my efforts to bring unity in the party and strengthening of the party have come to naught, I have decided that I should resign," he added. In the first election to the 11-ward Lunglei Municipal Council held on March 29, the ZPM Movement swept the polls bagging all the seats, the ruling MNF came second and Congress a distant third.
The state PCC drew a blank in the byelections to three local councils within the Aizawl Municipal Corporation. Local council is like a village council in the urban area.