Congress gambling on division in NPF vote bank

Kohima, May 22 (EMN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) today exuded optimism that it would secure an absolute majority in the forthcoming state assembly election which is due in 2018.

Addressing media persons at the Congress Bhavan, NPCC president K Therie said the ruling vote bank will be divided at least into three parts, if not four, in the next general elections, predicting at least 10-15% shift of votes which, he is confident would turn to the advantage of the Congress.

Recalling the statistics of the last assembly elections, Therie pointed out that Congress contested in 58 seats out of which, 8 were elected and 32 came in “second position”.

He said the in constituencies where the Congress could not file nominations in 2013 such as Kohima town and Tuensang, the party is very hopeful now, judging from the 2014 Lok Sabha election results which indicated that Kohima got 9800 votes in Kohima and about 10000 for the party.

“Congress is the only secular party which can guarantee freedom of religion and also defend and protect the identity of Nagaland,” Therie stated.

He admitted that the manner in which the party made its ticket distribution in 2008 and 2013 could have disturbed the standing of the party.

Towards this, he informed that the Congress party has decided to decentralize both in governance and in the party so that the people at the grass root levels can participate in the matters of political election.

“There will be no imposition of candidates either from the AICC, PCC or DCC and assembly constituencies are empowered to nominate their respective candidates. Candidates will be nominated by the ACCs concerned and they will be final,” the state Congress chief said. According to him, there is complete political polarisation in the state and the dust is yet to settle.

Admitting that there is a huge vacuum in the leadership in Congress as many of its old members have defected, he nevertheless feels that this provides for an opportunity for the youth to participate in the electoral process.

Therie was also very vocal about his fears should the existing legislators be elected again, stating, people cannot expect a clean government from the existing 60 members. “We have seen the past few state assembly proceedings, they have not been able to speak, they have become almost dumb. They do not represent their people…..The people of Nagaland do not need such kind of ‘dumb and deaf’ legislators,” he asserted.

He maintained that there are many Naga youths who are capable to become some of the best legislators in the nation and these youths should take the opportunity and participate in the forthcoming elections.

On the Nagaland Congress (NLC) which was formed by dissidents of NPCC, Therie said they (NLC) should come back to the Congress. He implied if they returned to the party and wanted to contest in the forthcoming election, tickets will be given to those who has ‘winning chance’.

On the recently launched Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the NPCC president is of the view that dissidents normally form such parties. “These parties contest in one election and after that, they vanish into thin air,” he said. He remarked that the line up of office bearers of the newly floated DPP does not really attract and that it somehow represents a “retired association”. On a lighter note, he said he is happy that the DPP was formed, as the NPF vote would now be divided further.

On Dr Shürhozelie Liezietsu’s completion of three months as chief minister, he said Liezietsu as a senior politician would lose nothing at his age if he stood strong for the people. When queried whether the Congress has a candidate to field if Liezietsu decides to go for a by-election before August 22 next, Therie replied in the affirmative, though he refused to name the candidate. He also added that the party is seriously considering whether it would be reasonable to fight in the by-election as the seat is going to be valid for just 3-4 months.

When asked if, by claiming Congress is the only secular party, he meant NPF was not secular, Therie said all the other political parties were trying to woo the BJP. According to him, “Congress is the only secular party in Nagaland and the rest are RSS and BJP political wing”.

He also criticized the ruling NPF party for fearing that if they dissociate with the BJP, funds to the state would stop. “Whatever 14th Finance Commission award is there, the state government is entitled to it, and that much they are getting,” he pointed out.

On Goods and Services Tax (GST), he wondered what was happening with the state government as the GST is almost taking away the freedom from income tax, something which Nagaland is free of. He said banks were also taking away this freedom from the Naga people but the government was not doing anything about it.

Voicing his observation on the movement of the society and the church, Therie said change is looming. Making the observation that the church was making such a strong stand, and also mentioning the actions taken by organisations like ACAUT and even the Naga political groups, the Congress chief said 2018 election will be a sort of a test for the people of Nagaland.