Nagaland Congress open to alliance sans BJP

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Sep.12 (EMN): The Nagaland Congress on Monday said it is open to a secular alliance with all like-minded political parties but sans the BJP for the upcoming state assembly election which is scheduled to be held in the first quarter of next year.

‘Any party including the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) may join us if they are secular-minded. It may be a non-BJP political alliance and we would like to have a non-BJP alliance in the state,’ said Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) president, K Therie during a press conference at Hotel Saramati in Dimapur.

“We fully exercise the democratic principles of decentralisation of powers. Therefore, we are authorising all the assembly constituencies, Congress committees and districts to select their own candidates in their respective constituencies,” he said.

When asked about the intending candidates, he replied that the party has about 42 candidates, although the number has not been finalised. He added that the party will also have candidates from the eastern area of the state.

We appeal to all erstwhile Congressmen and women and well-wishers to join in our effort to fight against anti-Christian forces and remove the roadblock for implementation of (Naga) political solution, Therie said.

Further, he asserted that he had been questioning the Parliamentary Core Committee on Naga Political Issue if the July 16, 2022 resolution had been submitted to the Centre.

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“They said they have submitted but in today’s (Monday) media report, it was stated that they are going to officially submit today. This is betrayal when they should be honest to the people,” he said.

Furthermore, on the sidelines of the press conference, Therie told Eastern Mirror that the Congress party had genuine concern for the demand of the Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO) and their difficulties ‘as the region has been betrayed in many areas with inequality of fund distribution’.

He said that after remaining silent for 11 years, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio had stated that the matter is with the Government of India and the ENPO.

On the ENPO’s decision to abstain from participating in the election process of the state or the Centre, he said: “The 20 MLAs from the eastern area should fight for justice and it is their responsibility to stand together.”

While maintaining that he couldn’t discern how firm the ENPO is on its stand to abstain from next year’s state assembly election, he sought people’s support for its demand.