MNF, MCP to abstain, MDF undecided in presidential poll

Aizawl, July. 18 (PTI): The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), which has two MPs and 23 legislators, and its coalition partner Mizoram Congress Party (MCP), with two MLAs, today decided to abstain from tomorrow’s presidential election.

MNF chief and Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga told a press conference here that his party could not support UPA- Left candidate Pratibha Patil since the UPA-run government at the Centre “is planning to enact a law suppressing the rights of religious minorities by amending the Constitution”.

The party also cannot support NDA-backed independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in view of his “antecedents”, Zoramthanga said.

The Mizoram Congress Party (MCP) also decided to abstain while another of MNF’s partners, the Mara Democratic Party (MDF), which has one legislator, will soon make a decision on the issue, he said.

Referring to the minority issue, he said the proposed 103rd Amendment to the Constituion, approved by the Union cabinet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, stipulated that religious minority status would be determined state-wise.

If the Constitutional amendment was pushed through, Christians in Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Goa and Kerala would lose their minority status, he said.

The Opposition Congress, which has nine legislators, the Mizoram Peoples Conference (MPC) and the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP), which have two legislators each, and the lone independent MLA in the 40-member assembly have announced their decisions to support Patil.

The value of each vote of the MLAs is eight and the polling will be held at the committee room of the assembly secretariat here.

The MNF will send a memorandum to the Prime Minister demanding the withdrawal of the proposed constitutional amendment and may even resort to protests if the Centre goes ahead with the legislation, Zoramthanga said.

The Opposition Congress, which has nine legislators, the Mizoram Peoples Conference (MPC) and the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP), which have two legislators each, and the lone independent MLA in the 40-member assembly have announced their decisions to support Patil.

The value of each vote of the MLAs is eight and the polling will be held at the committee room of the assembly secretariat here.

The MNF will send a memorandum to the Prime Minister demanding the withdrawal of the proposed constitutional amendment and may even resort to protests if the Centre goes ahead with the legislation, Zoramthanga said.

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