DIMAPUR, JUNE 19: While the ruling Naga Peoples’ Front (NPF) is busy juggling an inner tumult that appears to be on the verge of detonation from the inside anytime soon, elsewhere, the contours of the state’s overall political landscape are being reshaped.
In the coming “two or three days” a group of veteran politicians of Nagaland will be floating a “new regional party”, Eastern Mirror can confirm. Most of the leaders of this “new regional party” are former members of the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC).
On Sunday evening, one of the leaders told Eastern Mirror that the “new regional party” will be launched at Dimapur, tentatively on Tuesday. However the final decision(s) will be made when the leaders meet again on Monday, he informed.
Another source informed that the initial plan of the group had been to launch the “new regional party” last week. “But we decided to do it only after June 20,” he said. The source politely refused to divulge further information saying that all answers will be supplied when the party is launched.
While the top leaders of this “new regional party” include some of the dissident NPCC members who had supported the 8 former Congress legislators when the latter group had joined the present government, the source said that the new party had members “from all the other parties.”
When asked if the “new regional party” had the blessing of the 8 former Congress legislators – since they had supported the legislators when they were suspended by the NPCC – the source refused to comment.
This will be the second political party to be launched in Nagaland within the last 30-odd days. It was only on May 17 last that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was also launched in Nagaland.
While the AAP, at least till now, has not generated any visible impact since its entry in state politics, the newly floated “regional party” could however be a different story considering how sinuous and contorted the set-up of the current political establishment in Nagaland is.