Aizawl: An internal malady which has been bugging the ruling Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) deepened with the resignation of party veteran Bualhranga from the party’s Val Upa Council (VUC) on Thursday. VUC is an advisory and disciplinary body of elders also regarded as the party’s conscience keeper.Retired IAS officer Rin Sanga also resigned from the VUC, party sources said.Bualhranga, one of the founding members of the ruling party’s VUC, expressed disillusionment with the party’s functioning and its decision to amend its constitution allowing chief minister Lalduhoma to simultaneously serve as party president.Bualhranga was a former MNF underground govt ‘senator’ during Mizoram’s independence movement and a member of the political movement that preceded the formation of ZPM. He submitted his resignation to the chairman of VUC.He said he could no longer remain in VUC after seeing what he described as developments within the party and govt crossing his “red line” on matters that could be harmful to the state.Bualhranga said developments within the party and govt had crossed his “red line” on issues that could harm the state. “I cannot remain in this council,” he wrote, citing changes in the party’s internal functioning and what he described as the growing influence of groupism and self-interest.Bualhranga said the council had earlier functioned on the basis of collective discussion and adherence to principles. “We stood firmly by our principles, discussed the reasons behind everything and reasoned together,” he said, adding that the atmosphere had changed and that “groupism” had weakened the council’s functioning.The resignation comes at a sensitive time for ZPM, which swept to power in 2023 on a promise of a new political system distinct from Congress and MNF govts. The party has since amended its constitution and appointed Lalduhoma as both chief minister and president, a change that Bualhranga has now publicly opposed.
