NPCC should field young candidate
The Congress party in Nagaland needs an inspiration from somewhere to renew itself as a force to reckon with as in the past. One way to go about it is to bring in a generational change within the leadership. And this it seems is what exactly Rahul has in mind, to bring young leaders to the fore and 'securing advisory positions for the old guard'. In fact Rahul has already effected a generational change in the state-level leadership of the party in several states. Following the party's massive rout in the recently held Assembly elections in the states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Congress quickly changed its PCC Chiefs of all four states, all young faces. However it is quite strange that despite electoral losses for the last ten years and more, the Congress in Nagaland has failed to make the much needed changes in the leadership structure so as to revive the party. Its time therefore for the grand old Congress party to move ahead with the times, especially in Nagaland where the party has been diminishing from one election to the other, literally reduced to 8 seats following the last State Assembly election. Its simply a case of a leadership problem that the NPCC has been facing ever since the end of the SC Jamir era.
The Congress party in Nagaland needs an inspiration from somewhere to renew itself as a force to reckon with as in the past. One way to go about it is to bring in a generational change within the leadership. And this it seems is what exactly Rahul has in mind, to bring young leaders to the fore and 'securing advisory positions for the old guard'. In fact Rahul has already effected a generational change in the state-level leadership of the party in several states. Following the party's massive rout in the recently held Assembly elections in the states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Congress quickly changed its PCC Chiefs of all four states, all young faces. However it is quite strange that despite electoral losses for the last ten years and more, the Congress in Nagaland has failed to make the much needed changes in the leadership structure so as to revive the party. Its time therefore for the grand old Congress party to move ahead with the times, especially in Nagaland where the party has been diminishing from one election to the other, literally reduced to 8 seats following the last State Assembly election. Its simply a case of a leadership problem that the NPCC has been facing ever since the end of the SC Jamir era.
So what is the way forward? Perhaps the answer lies in the NPCC realising its strength and weaknesses and being honest about it. The Congress in Nagaland should come out of its denial of all these years. Only then will it succeed in making the party stronger for the people. The coming general election is a good time to reassess where it is going wrong. Now that Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has been formally declared as the consensus candidate of the NPF led DAN alliance to contest in the coming elections to the Lok Sabha, all eyes, will be on whom the main opposition Congress fields, to take on Rio. Despite the overtures made by the NPF to the Congress to support the candidature of Rio as a 'consensus to represent the Nagas', it is unlikely that the Congress will find it comfortable to go along with Rio, whom it has bitterly opposed over the years. A political contest even though against someone as formidable as Rio is therefore going to happen, and in a way, this is good for democracy.
And so as mentioned above, the big question therefore is who will the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) project as its candidate. If the criteria set by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to select candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is any indication, then it should be someone young, basing on the generational change that Rahul is promoting across the country within the Congress party leadership. In fact, the NPCC has nothing to lose by fielding a young candidate. As it is, Rio is the stronger contestant hands down and what the Congress can actually do is to use the coming election to rebuild the party in Nagaland by infusing fresh blood and new ideas. The time is running out for some of the older people within the NPCC and there is a need to bring in more young people and rebuild the party. Win or lose, the coming Lok Sabha election is an opportunity for the Congress party in Nagaland. It should begin the process of investing in young leaders. The NPCC should therefore seriously consider fielding a youthful face to take on Rio.
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