NEPS
KOHIMA, JUNE 19
NAGALAND Assembly Speaker Chotisuh Sazo admitted that he had received documents and other resolutions from NCP MLAs- Imtilemba Sangtam, Dr TM Lotha and Mmhonlumo Kikon- for their claim to merge with the BJP on June 16, 2014.
Talking to NEPS over phone, the Speaker explained that he had been examining their documents by consulting constitutional experts before issuing official acceptance from his office. “I have already sought certain information from the 3 MLAs (Imtilemba Sangtam, Dr TM Lotha and Mmhonlumo Kikon) to furnish whether there was any resolution of the NCP National Political Party deciding to merge their party with the BJP or any authorization to the State Unit of NCP to take any decision in this regard,” the Speaker pointed out. “At the same time, whether there was any resolution of the BJP National Political Party accepting the merger of the NCP with BJP.”
When contacted Dr TM Lotha, MLA and Parliamentary Secretary, said such authorization or acceptance from National Political Party for merger with another political party does not arise as they had seen cases of political parties merging with another political parties in Nagaland in the recent past. He said on May 19, 2009, then 2 BJP MLAs merged with NPF and later another 2 NCP MLAs merged with NPF. “In both cases, they had not taken any authorization or resolutions from their National Political Parties for merger with NPF,” he stated and further asserted that the documents submitted on Speaker’s Office on June 16, 2014 for formal merger of 3 NCP MLAs with their supporters with BJP was done by fulfilling all the laid down rules of the 10th Schedule of the Anti-Defection Law.
