Imphal, November 09: After waiting desperately for more than a week, the dissident MLAs who have been camping at Delhi finally made their tryst with AICC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi this morning.

Giving a detailed representation of the impasse within the CLP to Sonia Gandhi, the dissident camp is high with confidence that the campaign to remove O Ibobi from Chief Ministership will be certainly fruitful.

Newly appointed spokesperson of the dissident camp MLA Y Surchandra informed The Sangai Express that they called on UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi at 11.30 this morning to extend greetings on the occasion of Diwali festival.

Claiming that their camp have the blessings of the AICC leaders, Surchandra exuded confidence that the dissident MLAs will certainly emerge victorious.

Quoting Marchana Dalmiya, assistant to the UPA Chairperson, he disclosed that as Sonia Gandhi has received their application, she will be arranging an appointment with the rebel MLAs within a day or two.

Alleging that the CLP leader O Ibobi, during his meetings with Union leaders at Delhi recently, floated a malicious propaganda that the MLAs are revolting because of not getting Ministerial berths and police raids in their official quarters, the spokesperson belittled the allegation saying that there are Ministers among the dissident group and also MLAs whose official quarters have never been raided.

The campaign to remove Ibobi from Chief Ministership was not prompted by the craving for Ministerial berths but by the genuine concern to save Manipur from total ruination, asserted the spokesperson.

Asserting that the central leaders are well aware of the highly volatile law and order situation in Manipur, Surchandra pointed out till date there has been sincere effort to solve the problem of insurgency through dialogue.

The administration under Chief Minister O Ibobi is being dictated by UG groups and is being run in collaboration with a few unscrupulous elements, he alleged.

No development programme can be implemented up to 30 percent nor there is any quality control in development works, Surchandra asserted adding that the matter has been put to both Sonia Gandhi and Prithiviraj Chauhan.

Of the total number of candidates belonging to Thoubal district recruited to IRB recently, 80 percent were residents of Khangabok and Thoubal A/Cs.

He accused the existing Ministry of manipulating established norms to appoint about 7,000 Anganwadi workers and helpers without conducting any DPC.

However, all the candidates recommended by the MLAs were snubbed, he alleged while observing that other than Chief Minister O Ibobi there have been no Chief Ministers in all the Indian States who hold so many major portfolios at a time.

Although he appreciated the large amount of development funds sanctioned by the Union Govt for different projects in Manipur, Surchandra lamented that all the money meant for people's welfare programmes have vanished into thin air.

With the State Govt refusing to give any place to the secretaries and functionaries of party's different organisations, the party and the Govt are drifting apart, the spokesman noted.

He also alleged that the existing Ministry under Chief Minister O Ibobi never convened a CLP meeting to study any of the various major and consequential issues besetting the State.The central leaders' silence on their prolonged camping at Delhi without ever telling the dissident MLAs to go back is ripe with implications, he claimed adding that if they are against the campaign, they would have told the rebel MLAs to go back much earlier.

Comment