Dimapur, Feb. 15: With the demand for the resignation of the chief minister and his cabinet by the tribe organisations – spearheaded by the JCC and the NTAC – entering its 15th day, and the government machineries almost brought to a standstill, there are reports and speculations of imminent change of guard in Kohima.
As per latest reports, a signature campaign has been initiated by some members of the cabinet that would garner the support of 42 legislators and make the NPF president, Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu an option if a change of guard is necessitated.
Sources privy to the chief minister’s office however denied any such reports, stating that the current signature campaign was "misinterpreted" since it was purely an exercise to reaffirm the support of the legislators to the chief minister and the DAN chairman who is also the president of NPF party. They further said that the question of change of leadership at the moment does not arise.
However this statement also has its loopholes since 41 legislators excluding the Speaker had only on February 3 given their signatures supporting the chief minister stating that they "found no ground or justification for the resignation of the chief minister and his council of ministers on account of the recent developments on the issue of ULB election in Nagaland."
Sources from Raj Bhavan denied receiving any letter of support from the legislators though they were also reported to have been told to expect some legislators coming to meet the governor.
Unlike the other crises faced by the current government in the past, except for the usual formalities and notifications from the party office related to the ULB elections, the party President has till now remained tight-lipped on the whole issue.
There has been no clarification from the NPF party president till date although he as the minister for Urban Development had moved the Assembly Resolution to set aside the Municipal Act 2001, in September 2012 that was later revoked in November 2016.
There are also speculations doing the round as to whether the party and the DAN alliance partners were properly consulted before the announcement of the ULBs elections on December 21 last.
The chief minister on the other hand has openly pointed fingers at Neiphiu Rio when queried by a legislator about the former being the chairman of the Assembly Select Committee which submitted that Part IX A of the Constitution contravenes Article 371(A).
The chief minister had claimed that he was just under the persuasion of the then chief minister and so echoed the latter’s voice in the House while participating in the debate on said resolution.
The NPF on the other hand now appears to be functioning with different power centres going by the conflicting press statements being issued recently.
The party had always maintained that the current protests and demonstrations by the tribe organisations were politically motivated and engineered by a few politicians only.
However in a press statement issued by the party's press bureau published in local newspapers on Wednesday, the party has now officially termed the protests as a social movement.
Till the filing of this report, NPF functionaries including the president were not able to reach for comments. Their phones remained switched off.
