There is status quo between NDPP and BJP — Along

Centre really serious about Naga political solution

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Sep. 17 (EMN): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President, Temjen Imna Along, who is also the minister of Higher education and Tribal Affairs, said on Friday, a day before the all-party consultative meeting, that the BJP wants to continue its political partnership with its ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) in future too.

Along told journalists on the sidelines of an event that the NDPP and BJP are a pre-poll alliance and not an alliance of recent time.

"What understanding between BJP and NDPP is there has always been understood and concurred by Delhi, which I am only president of state and I have a high command who happens to be the national president, JP Nadda, so till now, there is status quo in the relationship between the NDPP and the BJP," he said.

"We (BJP) intend to take that relationship (alliance with NDPP) furthermore, so there is no issue about BJP having any minus or plus in it,” he added.

Speaking about the joint consultative meeting scheduled for Saturday, he revealed that it was called to discuss the recently announced Nagaland United Government (NUG), which is supposed to accommodate the Naga People’s Front (NPF) and Independent MLAs for an opposition-less government.

The meeting will be held between the NDPP, BJP, NPF, two Independent legislators and two MPs today in the State Banquet Hall at the Chief Minister's Residential Complex in Kohima.

"We still don't know what will be the intricacies of what would be spoken," he said while saying that all the BJP MLAs led by the BLP leader Y Patton, who is also the deputy CM, would attend the meeting.

Reacting to NPF Chief Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu’s statement that the party would not seek any office through the opposition-less government move, other than for the Naga solution, Along said that it is a very 'magnanimous decision'.

When asked if there was a consultation between the state BJP and central leadership on the matter, the president maintained that there was consultation, adding that Patton, he and other legislators, who signed the resolution on the NUG, did so for Naga political issue, stating 'solution is the need of the hour'.

He maintained that even though BJP is a high command party, ‘we also carry the aspiration of high command who wants to give solution’.

“The small glitch was we should have gone together and shared it out, because while making the pre-poll alliance, it happened according to the blessings of Delhi high command and Delhi has faith in our Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio to bring about the solution,” he added.

He opined that the Naga populace is very political populace with all dramas on social media with assumption and presumption. Informing that the state BJP leadership had gone to Delhi and explained the development, he said the central leadership has faith in the PDA government.

The minister also maintained that the Centre is very serious about bringing solution to the Naga political issue, which is of utmost importance.