Rajya Sabha polls: Manipur Congress issues show-cause notice to two MLAs for cross-voting

Okram Henry is the nephew of former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who is also the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). R K Imo is the son-in-law of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

“You have deliberately breached and acted against the decision of the Indian National Congress (INC) by indulging in cross-voting in favour of the BJP candidate in the recent Rajya Sabha election held on June 19 and this has not only violated the decision of our party to support our candidate but is also detrimental in maintaining the party principle,” the notice stated.

The two MLAs also reportedly participated in the felicitation of the BJP candidate who won the election, oragnised at the Chief Minister’s bungalow.

R K Imo has also been accused of accompanying the Chief Minister to New Delhi on a chartered flight on June 30 without the permission of the party.

“Your frequent physical identification with the BJP Chief Minister of the state, which was often exhibited in the print and electronic media, amount to giving up the membership of the INC, thereby attracting the provision of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India,” the notice added.

The party has given the MLAs two weeks to respond to the notice. If they fail to do so, the party said it would assume they had nothing to say, and the Disciplinary Action Committee would proceed to terminate their membership.

The BJP candidate, Leishemba Sanajaoba, the titular king of Manipur won the lone seat by security 28 votes of the total 52 votes. The Manipur Assembly has 60 seats but eight MLAs were disqualified by the Speaker under anti-defection law prior to the election.