With just a week to go for voting to elect new members of the 12th Nagaland legislative Assembly, the Nagas will have a choice to vote for change since the NPF led DAN government has miserably failed to provide a semblance of governance for the past ten years. Despite tall claims of development and growth, the pathetic infrastructure on ground and the nonexistent ones presents a stark reminder on how well it was implemented.
Perhaps for the first time in the history of Nagaland politics and anywhere else in the country, we have a Chief Minister who himself is a super contractor, supplier, commission agent and broker of business deals. The way in which huge work contracts were allotted to the firm held in his late father’s name (Guolhoulie Rio & Sons) and in his son’s name (M/s Chabou & Co) speak of his blatant disregard to well established norms of governance. Ten years of NPF rule has ensured that power and wealth of the state are now concentrated into the hands of few families, most of whom are close associates or relatives of the Chief Minister. Of late, a disturbing trend has emerged in the Naga society. The economic disparity and widening gap between the rich and the poor has evolved into a new breed of upper middle class who now consider themselves to be the elites among the Nagas which was hitherto unheard of in and otherwise egalitarian Naga society.
The Chief Minister and his party rhetoric on Naga political issue now stands exposed and they have no moral right to proclaim their sincerity. When the decision of resigning to pave way for an accelerated conclusion to the ongoing political dialogue was brought forth, the Chief Minister and his party dithered when it mattered the most and refused to resign. Therefore, the NPF’s approach to the Naga political issue during the past ten years is just a red herring to divert the attention of the public from the mass corruption and embezzlement it indulges, failure to enforce the rule of law in providing security and safety to its citizens and total collapse of the state infrastructure and governance.
The Congress party had brought out a booklet titled, ‘10 Years of NPF Misrule: A Decade of Scandals & Corruptions,’ to expose the Chief Minister and his coterie who have blatantly robbed the wealth of the state and destroyed the fabric of the Naga society into different groups by misusing the authority bestowed upon them by the people who elected them. Though the Chief Minister tried to downplay the book as a compilation of assembly questions which have been answered in the assembly itself, yet the documents which have been annexed to support the facts and figures cannot be easily ignored and will be open to investigations once the Chief Minister with his party is voted out of power. The book will always present a sordid picture of the NPF tall claims in the days to come.
The public needs to understand that crores of Rupees splashed around by the NPF candidates were meant for development of the state and for the welfare of the people. Therefore, one should not be easily swayed by enticement propagated by the NPF to buyout the electorate, but give a befitting reply by voting out the corrupt and clueless regime thereby preventing further damage to the future of upcoming generations.
As brought out in its manifesto, the congress party is embarking on a mission to redeem the people of Nagaland from this abominable and distressing predicament perpetrated by the NPF and offer a new vision and direction to the people of Nagaland in collectively restoring the glory of Nagaland. The choice now rests with the electorate, in deciding whether to accept some few thousand rupees in voting for NPF to be prepared for next five years of misery or vote for change by bringing the Congress party back to power and provide healing touch to the people devastated by economic disparity, crumbling infrastructure and division on tribal lines.
Time for Nagas to wake up: It’s now or never.
Media Cell, NPCC
