Five congress MLAs sworn in as parliamentary secretaries

Five Congress MLAs were today sworn in as parliamentary secretaries who will have the rank of a state minister in Manipur.

Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly-sworn in parliamentary secretaries at a simple function at his office.

The parliamentary secretaries are K Meghachandra, M Prithiviraj, Victor Keishing, Vungzagin Valte and Md Amin Shah.

Senior cabinet ministers and senior civil and police officials were present during the function.
All the five parliamentary secretaries would be given the charge of government departments like the Minister of State and will have all the facilities similar to them, officials said.

Political observers said the swearing in of parliamentary secretaries took place because of discontentment amongst Congress MLAs who could not get ministerial berths.

As per provisions of the Constitution under Anti-Defection Law, Manipur with 60 MLAs can have only 12 ministers.

The present strength of the Assembly is - Congress 42, Trinamool Congress 7, National People's Front 4, Manipur State Congress Party 5, Lok Jana Sakti Party 1 and National Congress Party 1.