Assembly history : Speakers, Deputy Speakers and other Naga Netas
Vamuzo had befriended controversial Manipur Speaker Borobabu singh
New Delhi
"It is not possible on the part of the Speaker who is basically a politician in our system to get himself completely divorced from politics". Any guess -- who among the former Nagaland Speakers could have said that.
That was C Chongshen, a former Speaker and also an ex-Deputy CM under K L Chishi's short stint ministry.
The observation by Chongshen was made in 1989 in his article for the 'Silver Jubilee' souvenir of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly.
He also had pointed out -- "Once a member is elected as the Speaker, by convention he becomes a non-partyman and he is not supposed to involve himself in politics".
The fact of the matter is the office of the Speaker got 'more politicised' when the Anti-Defection Law was enacted by the then Rajiv Gandhi government.
In later years many Naga leaders -- either as Speaker(s) or otherwise - made news in the context of their respective powers. T N Ngullie probably became India's first state assembly Speaker to disqualify 10 members in 1990.
Governor M M Thomas held Ngullie's ruling as wrong and dismissed the Jamir ministry.
Many years later as the Governor of Goa, stalwart S C Jamir dismissed the BJP-government headed by Manohar Parikar and also over-ruled the ruling of the Goa Speaker that the Parrikar ministry had won the trust motion.
This was in 2004 and within months Jamir had moved to Goa as the Governor, his relationship with the
BJP turned sour. However, as the Gujarat Governor, Jamir and the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi became 'friends'.
In Nov 2021, commenting on his relationship with PM Modi, Jamr told this scribe --
"We had a very good relationship though I was there only for five months. We were good friends. When I became Governor of Gujarat in 2009, I told him, I am an ex-Chief Minister so I know the responsibility of a Chief Minister.So as Governor I will never interfere".
Namo and Jamir : Friends ... since 2009
Thenucho as the Speaker made news in 1990 when he disqualified 15 MLAs. The order helped his brother-in-law Vamuzo survive as the Chief Minister.
As a regionalist leader of repute in the north east, Vamuzo used to befriend many non-Congress leaders at the national level and also a few in the region. Vamuzo was quite friendly to senior Janata Dal leader from Odisha - Rabi Ray - who became Speaker of the 9th Lok Sabha during the stint of V P Singh as the Prime Minister.
In the northeast, Vamuzo had befriended the one-time Speaker of Manipur assembly - Dr Haobam Borobabu singh.
The then Manipur Speaker hit headlines more than once when he took on the Guwahati High Court and at times even the Supreme Court. On one occasion, Vamuzo said: "I often encourage Dr Barababu Singh -- afterall he is taking on the powerful Congress establishment".
Barababu made news even in 2012 when Congress was in power in the centre.
A five-member division bench of the Supreme Court had insisted that Barababu Singh appear before them in person on October 20 (2012) to attend contempt proceedings that were pending against him. But Borababu Singh was in no mood to give in.
"It would be an affront to the institution of the Speaker and also to that of the legislature," he had maintained.
An articulate and methodical Naga leader Chubatemjen Ao had his part of the story. When Jamir was the Chief Minister, he had developed differences with him even as Chubatemjen Ao was made the Deputy Speaker.
In June 1990, he was amongst the rebels and defectors. He became Finance Minister under K L Chishi but at a later stage Chubatemjen became a die-hard proponent of regional politics.
Chubatemjen also had told I K Sema and other ministers in a lighter vein - "Our Chief Minister (Vamuzo's) policy is very clear.....Divide Congress and rule".
I K Sema too had retorted - "Wait, our time will also come".
Chubatemjen became NPC Secretary General and later lamented a lot for the political developments after NPC, BJP and the newly formed NDM had stayed away from the state assembly polls.
A text book Politician - Chubatemjen Oct 2023
We used to often informally talk about the tussle between the judiciary and legislature with the Congress leader Z Lohe, who became Parliamentary Affairs Minister under Jamir in the 1990s and also Speaker in 1998.
Once Lohe had said: "It is true the success of parliamentary democracy largely depends upon the upright functioning of the office of the Speaker".
S C Jamir as the Chief Minister made a sort of a record when in 1993 he made first time MLA Neiba Ndang the Speaker of the assembly. When asked why he decided to opt for a first timer legislator -- Jamir had said: "The Nagaland assembly is the most disciplined House in the country and Neiba can easily run the show".
He also made the first time MLA Wangyuh Konyak - the Deputy Speaker.
In 1990 after the Chishi ministry was toppled and Vamuzo became Chief Minister; Jamir was the Protem Speaker because the then Speaker T N Ngullie joined the Vamuzo ministry as a cabinet minister.
The general elections to the fifth Nagaland assembly was held in November 1982 and a ministry headed by S C Jamir assumed charge on Nov 17, 1982.
There were several high drama in this House. The no confidence motion against Speaker Chongshen Chang was brought on March 30, 1984.
But it was later withdrawn by the members. Chongshen later joined the ministry and E T Ezung became the Speaker.
Among the contemporary politicians, in 2023, It was a great honour and recognition to BJP's much talked about Matri Shakti - women power - as the lone Nagaland MP in Rajya Sabha, S Phangnon Konyak was nominated as one of the vice chairpersons of the Upper House.
Vamuzo and blogger - Those were the days !!
ends
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