Dimapur, January 3 (MexN): After days of speculation and uncertainty, the verdict was finally declared late in the evening. Nagaland was brought under central rule with President Pratibha Patil putting her stamp of approval on the recommendation of the union cabinet in this regard.
According to PTI, the President, who was handed over the recommendation on Wednesday, signed the proclamation on Thursday evening, Home Ministry sources said. Patil, who is at present in Hyderabad, had received the decision of the cabinet taken at its unscheduled meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 1. The cabinet meeting was convened at a short notice to discuss the political situation in Nagaland against the backdrop of the BJP-backed Democratic Alliance winning a controversial no-confidence motion last month.
Rio survived the trial of strength on the floor of the assembly on December 13 when it was defeated 23-19 in the 60-member House after Speaker barred three independents from taking part in voting and held that the votes of nine dissident ruling NPF members were invalid.
Taking charge following the proclamation of President’s Rule in Nagaland issued by the President of India today, the Governor of Nagaland declared “that the Nagaland Ministry has ceased to exist and the Governor can now act only under the authority of the President and any business that could be transacted by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly will now be transacted in Parliament or under its authority.”
With as many as 13 vacant seats and a series of defections and resignations, the Governor expressed that it was very clear that no stable ministry could be formed from the present Assembly. “Any Government, if formed from the present Legislature will only result in unprincipled defections with lure of office and is not likely to provide stable governance. This would be a very dangerous situation in any State, more so in Nagaland which has special security needs and is due for elections in just about 2-3 months,” he said. The Governor declared that fresh Elections, due in February – March 2008 will lead to a stable legislature and a stable Ministry. In these circumstances the Governor said there was “no option left but to impose provisions of Article 356, in order to be fair to both the parties and give a chance to the people of the State to elect a Government democratically as per their wishes.”
The Governor assured that he would do his “very best for the Peace, Progress, Prosperity and Development of Nagaland” during this period of PR. He appealed for support and cooperation of government servants, police, security forces and above all the people of Nagaland. He further urged upon the administration to do the extra bit to ensure that the government machinery “is geared in time to conduct the ensuing Assembly Elections, whereby a Popular Government can be chosen by the People.”
