Nagaland is poised for a fight between the NPF and the NDPP-BJP as the political parties go back on their decision to boycott elections until a solution to the Naga issue was found.
POLITICAL parties in Nagaland have settled for “election before solution” over “solution before election” and decided to contest the February 27 Assembly elections, thereby putting at rest speculation about a constitutional crisis in the north-eastern State. However, uncertainty over the outcome of the ongoing peace talks between the Naga rebel groups and the Government of India continues. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), taking the lead in settling for “election before solution”, indicated that the more than two-decades-old Naga peace process was likely to drag on for some more time.
Eleven political parties, including the ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF), the BJP, the newly formed Nationalist Democratic People’s Party (NDPP) and the Congress, signed a joint declaration on January 29 that they would not issue the party ticket or file nominations to the Assembly elections until an early resolution to the vexed “Naga political issue” was found and the ongoing peace talks concluded. The declaration was signed at a meeting convened by the Core Committee of Naga Tribal Hohos and Civil Organisations (CCNTHCO) in Kohima.
However, the BJP was the first to break out of the declaration. The party issued a statement that it had not authorised its leaders to attend the meeting or sign any declaration. It suspended two leaders for signing the declaration without being authorised to do so. The ruling NPF and other parties subsequently announced that they were fully prepared to contest the elections and would file nominations if other parties participated in the election process.
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