Dimapur, June 12 (MExN): With 61 intending candidates filing nominations from Eastern Nagaland for the upcoming ULB elections on June 26, the Rising People’s Party (RPP) today accused the NDPP-BJP coalition of undermining the writ of ENPO.
The writ of Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) was undermined in the form of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party/Bharatiya Janata Party candidates filing their nominations in various urban local bodies (ULBs) of Eastern Nagaland, the party alleged.
“After ensuring that the issue of Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT) was scuttled, the NDPP/BJP coalition surely orchestrated the latest outrage,” maintained a press release from RPP General Secretary Amai Chingkhu and Vice President Vitho Zao.
According to the party, the betrayal by the NDPP-BJP coalition started when the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a directive seeking the State Government’s opinion on the FNT Draft Working Paper (DWP) before December 31, 2023.
The State Government sat on the DWP, according to an ENPO press release in April, and the organization has exposed the “diabolic policy of the State Government through various press statements” and finally abstained from the Lok Sabha polls, it alleged.
The RPP termed the latest development a “betrayal” by the State government and held that it was “nothing but an act of retribution by the NDPP-BJP coalition” for the defeat in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Nagaland to Indian National Congress candidate S Supongmeren Jamir victory.
Accordingly, it also accused Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio of ‘fooling’ the ENPO people twice, doubly aided by NDPP President Chingwang Konyak.
Konyak, a former talk team member of ENPO, could have stopped the NDPP candidates from filing their nominations, the RPP asserted.
Calling it a divide and rule policy, the RPP condemned the NDPP-BJP coalition government for undermining the ENPO’s authority and making it lose credibility in the eyes of the Naga people.
It must be noted here that not all 51 candidates that file nominations from the Eastern Nagaland were from the NDPP-BJP coalition.
As per the status of nomination provided by the State Election Commissions on June 11, the last date of nomination, out of 61 candidates, 32 belonged to NDPP while there were 10 BJP candidates.
In addition, it included 9 from Nationalist Congress Party and 10 Independent candidates.
