Aizawl: BJP leader N Zangura was sworn in as the new Chief Executive Member (CEM) of Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) in Mizoram.
Zangura replaced Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) leader V Zirsanga, who was sworn in as the CEM on February 27, marking the BJP’s influence over all three autonomous district councils in the state.
Lawngtlai district’s additional deputy commissioner David Lalrinawma administered the oath of office and secrecy to Zangura at the council’s conference hall in Lawngtlai.
The BJP is currently in power in all three ADCs in Mizoram, although it formed a coalition executive committee with the Mizo National Front (MNF) in the LADC.
Mizoram Governor General Vijay Kumar Singh (Retd) on Friday (MAY 2) appointed BJP leader N Zangura as the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC).
The two-month-old executive committee headed by Zirsanga collapsed after Zangura and BN Thangpuia quit the ZPM and joined the BJP recently.
On April 24, the BJP and MNF forged an alliance and formed the United Democratic Alliance Legislature Party (UDALP).
State BJP president Vanlalhmuaka said that the BJP-MNF combine now has 13 members and the lone Congress member of the district counciol, C Lalhmuanthanga, is giving external support to the UDALP. The ZPM currently has 11 members in the LADC.
The UDALP elected Zangura as its leader and staked claim to form the next executive committee in the 25-member council. The LADC also has four nominated members.
In the last LADC polls held in December 2020, the MNF secured a majority by winning 20 out of 25 seats, while BJP and Congress bagged one each. Three independent candidates were also elected.
Since then there has been a change of guard at least four times with the last being the ZPM-led executive committee headed by Zirsanga, which was inducted on February 27 this year. The LADC election is due at the end of this year.
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Meanwhile, the Lai Students’ Association (LSA) has been protesting, demanding fresh elections to the council because of the instability it is facing. The organisation, which has been picketing outside LADC and the deputy commissioner’s office since Tuesday, said it would intensify its agitation to ensure the dissolution of the council.
The LADC is one of the three autonomous district councils in the southern part of Mizoram, which was created in 1972 for the Lai tribal people under the Sixth Schedule. It covers Lawngtlai and Sangau sub-divisions of Lawngtlai district.
