IMPHAL, February 14: The National leader of the Lok Janasakti Party (LJP) has instructed its lone MLA in the State, Karam Shyam to start sitting at the opposition bench of the State Assembly as the party was fully supporting the NDA government after the last Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking to the media at his reception function at Lilong Chajing, Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the LJP supported the UPA government`™s rule at the Centre during its rule but the party fought the elections at the last Lok Sabha polls under the leadership of Narendra Modi, the BJP`™s prime ministerial candidate.
Now under the new NDA government, we are sitting at the treasury bench in Parliament and our lone MLA in the Manipur State Assembly must sit in the Opposition as there is a Congress government in the State, he said, adding it has been instructed to our party MLA to sit in the opposition bench from now on and we have written to him about this matter six months ago. During the national executive meeting on February 16, we will direct all our MLAs to support the NDA government, he informed.
Later, addressing a public meeting as the chief guest, the Union CAF & PD Minister said their party MLA in the State has made three demands which included the demand for the repeal of AFSPA, against which Irom Sharmila has been fasting for 15 years to get it repealed.
He said as an MP he has been raising the issue of AFSPA in Parliament so many times. Now, the Central government has changed under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi who is well aware about the NE states, he added.
After returning to Delhi, he will talk to the Prime Minister and submit a written letter demanding the removal of AFSPA, 1958; so that Irom Sharmila may end her fast and fulfil the demands of Manipuri people, he said.
As a Cabinet Minister of the NDA, he said, he assured that discrimination against NE people would never be tolerated during the NDA government at the Centre.
He said the NDA government considers the economic development of the NE as national development. The Prime Minster has instructed all the Union Cabinet Ministers to visit the NE states once in every three months to get acquainted with their difficulties and to remove those difficulties.
Ram Vilas Paswan assured the public that he would request the Chief Minister to implement the Food Security Act immediately. The FCI officials of Nagaland, South Assam and Manipur have been summoned to Imphal to discuss together the Food Security Act. The meeting which started today will end tomorrow, he added.
He admitted that the PDS item distribution in the State except in Langthabal were not able to satisfy the people. If the National Food Security Act is implemented, people will get wheat at Rs 2 per Kg and rice at Rs 3 per Kg. At least 84 percent of the population in rural areas will benefit from the Food Security Act. More storage rooms for food grains and other items of the FCI are going to be constructed so that there should not be any problem in distribution of grains to the public, he said.
Talking about the broad-gauge railway link from Lamding to Silchar, he said he had already discussed about its speedy completion with the Railway Ministry yesterday. As the broad-gauge railway link is unfinished, the State have to ferry FCI items from Dimapur, occasionally facing disturbances in some areas of Nagaland and Manipur. So, the Government was trying to immediately complete the Lamding-Silchar broad-gauge railway link by March 31 this year, he said, adding railway links to Mizoram and Manipur were not broad-gauge and will be converted into broad-gauge in the future.
Meanwhile, MLA Langthabal Karam Shyam has asked for a formal declaration and instruction from the Party to withdraw his support to the present Congress government in Manipur. He said he would absolutely obey the directions from the National party leaders.
He further expressed his support and advice to the LJP Manipur unit for the upcoming Manipur Legislative Assembly Elections in early 2017 to strengthen the party and to get least 10 MLAs elected.