Congress will pass new Bill guaranteeing protection of forest land, rights of tribal people of Mizoram: Jairam Ramesh

In preparation for the upcoming Assembly elections in Mizoram, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on October 28 stated that the party if it comes to power, will pass a new Bill that guarantees to protect land, forests and rights of the tribal people of the state. 

Slamming the BJP government for allegedly 'bulldozing amendments' to the Forest Conservation Act during the monsoon session of the Parliament, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh while taking to platform X informed that the party if voted to power will pass a new Bill in the very first session of the new Legislative Assembly of Mizoram that guarantees to proect the land, the forests and the rights of the tribal people of the state. As forests are part of the concurrent list, this Bill will be sent to the President of India for assent under the provision of Article 254(2).

Hitting out at Mizo National Front (MNF) for not acting and instead 'dancing to the tune' of the BJP, Jairam Ramesh stated on platform X, "This is what the MNF government should have done immediately after the Monsoon session of Parliament but didn’t do because it dances to the tune of the BJP. This is what the ZPM will never do as they are a party without an ideology, without a programme or an organisation for the people of Mizoram, and will compromise with the BJP in no time".

Earlier, the AICC General Secretary (Communications) while addressing a press conference on October 27 at the Aijal Club stressed on the point that a vote for the MNF or the ZPM is essentially a vote for the BJP. 

In his opening statement, Ramesh raised four points on why the 2023 Assembly elections are very crucial for Mizoram. He said, “It is essentially a three-horse race with the MNF, INC and ZPM. There is a ghost party, the BJP. The power of the ghost over the other two parties, the ZPM and MNF is well known to everyone as they are the gateway for BJP to enter Mizoram.” 

He added, “the strategy of BJP all over the Northeast is to use regional parties to then grab power. They did it in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, and now they are trying to do the same in Mizoram.” He further said that the MNF and the BJP are two sides of the same coin.

Also read : Mizoram Elections: A vote for MNF or ZPM is a vote for BJP, says Jairam Ramesh