Nagaland CM confident PDA will win; stresses threadbare discussion on FNT

TOUPHEMA — Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Friday exuded confidence that the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) consensus candidate Dr. Chumben Murry will win the state’s lone Lok Sabha seat by a comfortable margin.

He made this statement while speaking to journalists after casting his vote in his native village Touphema under Kohima district.

On the indefinite bandh imposed by the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) within its jurisdiction and subsequent show-cause notice served to the ENPO by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Rio remarked that whatever the civil societies have been doing is up to them.

He however maintained that there should be peaceful polling all over the state, including ENPO areas.

He also informed that so far the election process was going on peacefully in the state, wherever polling was taking place and even where voting was not being exercised.

When asked if his government would take any action against the legislators from eastern Nagaland for not taking part in the election, he said that the ENPO had issued a strict order, particularly mentioning the eastern Nagaland legislators, to abstain from voting.

So they (eastern Nagaland legislators) would not want confrontation, he added.

When asked if the action of ENPO would affect negotiation for Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT), the chief minister said that the ENPO knows best what it is doing, while pointing out that the ECI had served show cause notice to ENPO and to others trying to prevent voting, as it is the right of every citizen to exercise their franchise in a democracy.

On ENPO’s allegation that the draft on FNT was handed over to the chief minister in the month of December, Rio expressed his reservation and said that he doesn’t want to comment on it.

He however clarified said that the draft, a working paper, was handed over to him by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Commenting on the draft, he said everything thing looks ‘Okay’ but for the power sharing between the elected members of eastern Nagaland over the proposed FNT.

He reiterated his earlier statement that the state government has no problem because it had already recommended for an autonomous body, so that they (eastern Nagaland people) get sufficient economic packages to come at par with the rest of the state.

He also maintained that the 20 MLAs from eastern Nagaland and ENPO should sit across the table for discussion on sharing of power.

But the Eastern Nagaland Legislators’ Union (ENLU) and ENPO could not do that; rather, they refuses to accept or study the paper, which is why the blame may be on the state government, Rio said.

Henceforth, threadbare discussions should be held, he added.

Read: Lok Sabh Election 2024: Home voting begins in Nagaland