The Imphal Free Press
IMPHAL, Nov 11: The Congress rebel camp in New Delhi, campaigning for the ouster of chief minister Okram Ibobi, is upbeat, after Y Erabot and Phungzathang, both cabinet ministers, who had returned to Imphal for a while, flew back in to rejoin them.
The total number of Congress MLAs camping in New Delhi has thereafter risen to 16, bringing up their total strength (including Allauddin, Gaikhangam and Debendra who are still in Imphal) to 19.
The rebels called on Ahmed Patel, secretary to the AICC president, Sonia Gandhi, to appraise him of the "misdeeds" of Ibobi, including among others, sidelining the party and its interests in promoting his own individual interest, the spokesman for the dissident group, Y Surchandra told IFP from New Delhi late this evening.
Surchandra, said they expect the AICC to respond to the Manipur situation immediately after the ongoing AICC general session concludes on November 17.
He said from the indications so far, there is no reason why they would not be successful in bringing about a regime change in the state soon.
By democratic norms alone, Ibobi has no chance for if the Speaker were to be excluded, at this very moment he may not even manage 11 signatures in his support, he added.
If Ibobi was confident of his support base, he would have done exactly this by now and put up his own case with the AICC, Surchandra said, adding, the chief minister will not dare to take up the challenge for he has no support left within the Congress legislative party, CLP.
The Congress commands an absolute majority of 31 in the 60-strong Manipur Legislative Assembly and if the dissidents were to be believed, they have 19 MLAs, leaving the chief minister with a maximum of 12. They believe Ibobi will not be able to hold even this 12.
In the meantime, keeping up their attack on Ibobi`s record as chief minister, the dissident MLAs have issued another press release highlighting his failures on the development front.
The press statement, issued by Y Surchandra, charged that despite the initiatives taken by the UPA Government at the Centre for the development of the North Eastern States, and the sanctioning of many development projects particularly for Manipur, there has no visible impact in the state.
The Rural Health Mission, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, mission for urban development like JNNURM and various programmes for rural development in Manipur have become either a total failure or a non-starter because of mishandling and misrule by the Ibobi Singh-led government, the dissidents charged.
`There is no sign of administration not only in the hills and remote areas but also even in the Capital City Imphal`, it maintained.
Of the many development packages sanctioned by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Sngh during his Manipur visit in the year 2004, the much awaited and ambitious Capital Project remains a total non-starter. The ambitious Bir Tikendrajit Flyover has been under construction for over 5 years and is yet to be completed. The construction of three major markets at Imphal is yet to take off inspite of the fact that they were sanctioned three years ago, it said.
The state`s portion of NH-39 is in such pathetic condition inspite of the fact that so much money have been pumped in. The muddy streets and clogs drains in and around the state`s capital city Imphal indicates the prevailing condition in far flung areas, it said.
There is no sign of completion of the Khuga, Thoubal and Dolaithabi hydel projects within the government`s projected dateline, it said.
Continuing its tirade against the CM, the statement said the administration under Ibobi is centralized and there is no transparency. His government has no vision and mission. Inspite of the fact that he has been chief minister continuously for six years, no vision document for development of the state could be placed before the people. There is no direction and commitment. People are in the dark, it said.
It also noted that for the 2007-08 Annual Plan of Manipur, the Planning Commission approved an outlay of Rs. 1374.31 crore and the revised outlay was Rs. 1420.14 crore. As on 1st October 2007, only about Rs. 132 crore was spent which is less than 10%. The progress of expenditure in key sectors like Rural Development, minor irrigation, roads and bridges, public works (PAB) and education are less than 5%. Is it paving the way for rush of expenRevolt a family affair, says Ibobi Singh diture at the fag end of the year and for misutilisation of fund without works being done, it asked?
Courtesy: www.kanglaonline.com
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