Only months before the Assembly elections in Assam, the Congress has pulled off a political coup in North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) instigating a revolt in the administrative board of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Hill Council of Dima Hasao in south-central Assam.
Half of the NCHAC members, who administer Dima Hasao (formerly North Cachar Hills) tribal district, resigned from the Hill Council in Kolkata on Friday. Dima Hasao is one of the troubled districts of the Northeast where people fought for several decades demanding separate Dimasa homeland.
The members of the Autonomous Hill Council said that “lack of transparency” and “continuous dominance” by a particular tribe in the Council has alienated them. The elected representatives of the Council alleged that Chief Executive member Niranjan Hojai, a former extremist leader, has “not left any room” for negotiations. The former military chief of the outlawed Dima Halam Daogah, Niranjan Hojai, surrendered in 2009 and eventually joined mainstream politics. Mr Hojai was elected as the chief administrator of the NCHAC following an earlier political coup by the BJP to take control of the 30-member council couple of months back.
On Friday, the breakaway faction complained that Mr Hojai is running NCHAC as his “personal fiefdom” and refusing to engage the rest of the members of the Council in governing the district, Dima Hasao. The leader of the faction that resigned on Friday, Mihir Gorlosa, alleged that Mr Hajoi is refusing a dialogue with the elected members of the Council.
“He is not following any procedure while making the departmental appointments, there is not transparency in day-to-day dealings and even the bills are adopted without consultation with the NCHAC members, who are elected by the people,” Mr Gorlosa told The Hindu .
Following the coup, the Congress is again a majority in the Autonomous Hill Council and it is a matter of time before Mr Hojai is replaced by a leader from the Congress camp.
Mr Hojai was not available for comments.
“Chief Executive member Niranjan Hojai running the Council as his personal fiefdom”
