Mizoram Congress leaders defend Lal Thanzara, praise his decision to resign as MoS, MLA

Condemning PM Modi and the BJP leadership for refusing to respond to charges against Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje, the state Congress leaders said Lal Thanzara has on the contrary resigned so that any investigation against him would be open and free, and that this pointed to his innocence.

“Holding shares is not a crime,” CM Lal Thanhawla said as he defended his younger brother Lal Thanzara, who claims he did not know he held 4.76 lakh equity shares in Sunshine Overseas, a Delhi-based company, and denied he received any remuneration from the company.

A report by Scroll, an on-line news portal, recently exposed that Sunshine’s business with the Mizoram PWD (headed by the CM) more than trebled to Rs 24.16 crores during the three years (2009-2012) Lal Thanzara held the company’s shares.

Asked whether he or his brother would, in the light of Lal Thanzara’s claims that he was allotted shares without his knowledge, take action against the company for what would then likely be fraudulent share allotment processes, Lal Thanhawla replied he had earlier also allotted shares by another company without his knowledge and that he got them to take the shares back once he found out.

The CM meanwhile praised Sunshine Overseas saying the company has worked several road contracts on a “voluntary” basis because tenders floated for these found no takers.

The party leadership also hinted Lal Thanzara will contest a bye-election for the seat he has vacated, Aizawl North 3, saying the party will decide when it comes time to choose a candidate.

Lal Thanhawla, whose resignation opposition party Mizo National Front has also demanded, also defended Social Welfare Minister P C Lalthanliana saying his decision to buy more than Rs 22 crores worth of high-protein biscuits for anganwadi children over seven years from a company owned by the family of Lal Thanzara, his party colleague and fellow-legislator, was guided by the state’s Purchase Advisory Board.

The Zoram Nationalist Party has released replies to an RTI query by party spokesman Rothuama Sailo that shows H P Food Products supplied over Rs 22 crores worth of high-protein biscuits to the Social Welfare Department for distribution to anganwadi centres across the state.

Lal Thanhawla and his party colleagues said the company’s owner is not Lal Thanzara but his son, and that the company is anyway the only company manufacturing high-protein biscuits in the state.

Congress leaders led by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla on Wednesday sought to defend party leader Lal Thanzara following his resignation as a Minister of State and an MLA over conflict of interest charges.

The party leadership, which included Cabinet Ministers Zodintluanga and Lalrinmawia Ralte besides former Finance Minister Liansailova, said at a press conference Lal Thanzara’s relinquishing of posts on Tuesday should serve as an example to other politicians who refuse to step down in the face of serious impropriety charges, including those from the BJP-led central government.

Condemning PM Modi and the BJP leadership for refusing to respond to charges against Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje, the state Congress leaders said Lal Thanzara has on the contrary resigned so that any investigation against him would be open and free, and that this pointed to his innocence.

“Holding shares is not a crime,” CM Lal Thanhawla said as he defended his younger brother Lal Thanzara, who claims he did not know he held 4.76 lakh equity shares in Sunshine Overseas, a Delhi-based company, and denied he received any
remuneration from the company.

A report by Scroll, an on-line news portal, recently exposed that Sunshine’s business with the Mizoram PWD (headed by the CM) more than trebled to Rs 24.16 crores during the three years (2009-2012) Lal Thanzara held the company’s shares.

Asked whether he or his brother would, in the light of Lal Thanzara’s claims that he was allotted shares without his knowledge, take action against the company for what would then likely be fraudulent share allotment processes, Lal Thanhawla replied he had earlier also allotted shares by another company without his knowledge and that he got them to take the shares back once he found out.

The CM meanwhile praised Sunshine Overseas saying the company has worked several road contracts on a “voluntary” basis because tenders floated for these found no takers.

The party leadership also hinted Lal Thanzara will contest a bye-election for the seat he has vacated, Aizawl North 3, saying the party will decide when it comes time to choose a candidate.

Lal Thanhawla, whose resignation opposition party Mizo National Front has also demanded, also defended Social Welfare Minister P C Lalthanliana saying his decision to buy more than Rs 22 crores worth of high-protein biscuits for anganwadi children over seven years from a company owned by the family of Lal Thanzara, his party colleague and fellow-legislator, was guided by the state’s Purchase Advisory Board.

The Zoram Nationalist Party has released replies to an RTI query by party spokesman Rothuama Sailo that shows H P Food Products supplied over Rs 22 crores worth of high-protein biscuits to the Social Welfare Department for distribution to anganwadi centres across the state.

Lal Thanhawla and his party colleagues said the company’s owner is not Lal Thanzara but his son, and that the company is anyway the only company manufacturing high-protein biscuits in the state.