[caption id="attachment_242755" align="aligncenter" width="500"]
L-R front: Yanthungo Patton, Neiphiu Rio, Mhathung Yanthan and TM Lotha at one of the PDA’s two election meetings in Wokha.[/caption]
Dimapur, April 7 (EMN): Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has assured the people that the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-led People’s Democratic Alliance (NDPP-PDA) government will leave no stone unturned in protecting the rights and privileges of the people.
Updates from the NDPP on Sunday informed that the chief minister, addressing communities in Wokha district during an election rally, talked about various issues, including the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
Leaders of the PDA on Saturday, April 6, conducted a meeting with community leaders and members, at Longsa village’s community hall, and at Wokha village’s community hall, consecutively. The two villages are contiguous to Wokha town.
The meeting was part of the alliance’s campaign for its Lok Sabha candidate Tokheho Yepthomi, stated a press release from the media unit of the NDPP.
According to the press release, the chief minister appealed to the members of both the villages to vote in favour of the NDPP’s candidate as ‘he will win with a winning margin of more than three to four lakh’ during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, 2019.
‘In this election, the Naga People’s Front (NPF) being the single largest political party in the state decided not to set up its own candidate,’ the press release quoted him as having stated.
‘But surprisingly went in support to the candidate of the Indian National Congress, KL Chishi, which itself shows the NPF, once propagating strong regionalism, has lost its credibility...’
On the Citizenship Bill issue, the chief minister said that the centre “would like to regularise only 3132 immigrants by passing the said bill but unluckily it went out of proportion.”
‘Nevertheless the state government has rejected Citizenship Bill and will always stand by its resolution even in the future since Nagaland is well protected under Article 371 (A) and BEFR (ILP) 1873,’ the press release stated.
The coalition government will ‘leave no stone unturned to constantly protect rights and privileges of its citizens,’ he was quoted as having assured. According to the press release, the chief minister defended his statement by mentioning that he had had consultations with sections of the people including tribal and community organisations, political parties, prominent citizens and other stakeholders.
This was to form a consensus ‘so that the stand and approach of the state government would reflect will and desire of the people. Even than the opposition NPF and the Congress boycotted the meeting,’ the press release stated.
‘The NPF as a party is good but its leaders are vision-less, directionless and so that's the reason they walk out in protest even during the assembly session when the ruling government was about to pass a resolution regarding
Citizenship Amendment Bill...’ the chief minister was stated to have said.
‘The act of the opposition shows that the NPF had come out in the open as an ‘anti people party who have lost all interest in taking measures.’
Other leaders of the party and the alliance also addressed the gathering, the updates stated.
Addressing the gathering, the legislator in charge of campaigning for the candidate in Wokha district, Mhonlumo
Kikon said that the coalition government was fielding Yepthomi as the alliance’s consensus candidate ‘for the sake of overall development of the state.’
Likewise, legislator Mhathung Yanthan called upon the voters from both the villages to cooperate and support the coalition’s candidate to bring in rapid development and progress through the Lok Sabha elections.
According to the press release, Yanthan, who is also the advisor for Horticulture, said that although the representative of the area Dr. Chumben Murry was from the opposition bench, ‘they are all together,’ when it comes to development and growth in the state or village.
The deputy chief minister of the state, Yanthungo Patton also addressed the gathering at Longsa village. He urged the public to vote for Yepthomi to bring ‘peace and development’ in the state.
The press release stated that the deputy chief minister had assured the community about the PDA government—of which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a partner—completing its full term.
Patton further was stated to have declared that the BJP was not a communal party and that it had ‘nothing to do with religion’ or being anti-Christian. The political party ‘has a function like any other political party in the country,’ he was quoted as having stated.
‘If anything happens to the Christians in the state “by the BJP party,” he himself will be the first to resign,’ the press release stated of the minister’s speech.
Unit leaders of the ruling and alliance parties in the district, besides former legislators and candidates, and village council leaders attended the meeting, the updates stated.
