Nagaland Cong to merge with NPF

Headlines Vol. 2 Issue No. 7

July 7 - 21, 2003

Nagaland Cong to merge with NPF

The Nagaland People’s Front (NPF), a major constituent of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN), got a shot in the arm as the newly formed ‘Nagaland Congress’ made a formal request to join it. NPF sources said the party received formal request from Nagaland Congress seeking to join the largest constituent of DAN. Nagaland Congress was formed by seven Congress legislators on June 28 after breaking away from the parent party and got the Speaker’s nod as a separate political entity. At an emergency meeting of party working committee in the wake of the emergence of the ‘Nagaland Congress’, NPF authorised the party president to consider and admit any member from other political parties to its fold.
NPF general secretary Chubatemjen Ao said the meeting reviewed the recent political development in the state with special reference to the split in the Congress and ouster of Housing and Homeguards Minister E T Ezung. Congress and Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM), to which Ezung belonged, charged the ruling DAN of indulging in “horse-trading” while effecting split in the Congress which emerged as single largest party in the last assembly election in the state.
Hours after the split of the Congress, the Housing Minister E. T. Ezung had been dropped from the Cabinet. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said that Ezung had been dismissed because his party NDM was not a part of the DAN and supporting the alliance from outside. Ezung, however, said he was sacked only to accommodate the Congress deserters.

Meanwhile, BJP urged the DAN coalition partners to have better communication and coordination among themselves in all-important matters related to running the alliance Government. BJP North-East in-charge V Satish said that perhaps due to lack of coordination DAN chairman and senior BJP leader Hokishe Sema did not know the decision of the Chief Minister to sack Housing Minister E. T. Ezung. Sema, a former Chief Minister, earlier had said he came to know about the development only after dropping the senior Cabinet Minister.

On the Naga political issue, Satish claimed that the Vajpayee Government at the Centre made serious endeavours to settle the Naga political problem and everything was moving in right direction till date. Highlighting the BJP’s organisational work in the northeastern States keeping in view the next year’s Parliamentary election, Satish alleged that a section of Ministers in the Congress ruled States of the region, particularly in Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, had ‘nexus’ with militant outfits.

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