Prepared to conduct Nagaland elections despite boycott call

Kohima, Jan 30: Nagaland Chief Electoral Officer Abhijit Sinha on Tuesday said that the state is prepared to conduct February 27 assembly polls despite several Naga civil society groups and political parties have sought deferment of the state elections.
The Core Committee of Nagaland Tribal Hoho and Civil Organisations (CCNTCHOC) on Saturday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat, appealing to him to defer the February 27 elections in favour of early solution to the protracted Naga insurgency issue.
“We are all prepared to conduct the polls. The election notification for the February 27 State Assembly election will be issued on Wednesday after which nominations can be filed in returning officers offices from 11 am to 3 pm till February 7,” he said
“It is a constitutional requirement and nothing is going to change the election schedule. We are going ahead to conduct the election as announced by the election commission. Therefore, I appeal to everyone not to vitiate this election process,” Sinha said.
He informed that the central armed police force companies have started coming and about 280 companies are expected to arrive for election duty.
Leaders of the ruling Naga People’s Front , BJP, Congress and Janata Dal-United attended the meeting at Hotel Japfu wherein the Chief Electoral Officer briefed them on the filing of nomination of the candidates for the forthcoming state elections.
In fact, eleven political parties, including the ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF) and the BJP, on Monday issued a joint declaration not to issue party tickets or file nominations for the state assembly polls in response to the call by various tribal Naga groups for ‘Solution before Election’.
The joint declaration was signed by the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal-United, Lok Janshakti Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Nagaland Democratic People’s Party, Nagaland Congress, United Naga Democratic Party and the National People’s Party at a meeting convened by the Core Committee of Nagaland Tribal Hoho and Civil Organisations (CCNTCHOC).
The Core Committee had cautioned any candidate or political party for defying the call of “Solution before Election”, and violating the Joint Declaration of 11 political parties shall be treated as “anti-Nagas”.
However, Nagaland BJP President, Visasolie Lhoungu said that the party state unit will “abide by the directives of the party high command on the assembly elections”.
He said the BJP has placed Kheto Sema, the party vice president under suspension for signing the joint declaration of the political parties to defer the elections without consulting the BJP.
“We have deputed him to attend the all party meeting convened by the Core Committee of Nagaland Tribal Hoho and Civil Organisations to defer the elections but he has signed the joint declaration on his own without consulting the party,” Lhoungu said.
Reacting to Sema’s suspension, the Core Committee have asked the BJP to clarify its position with regard to the Joint Declaration of the eleven political parties on Monday.
“The BJP cannot speak with forked tongue when even after signing the Joint Declaration, it put in place a most insidious game plan to scuttle the cry of Solution before Election when the party suspended its member for signing the historic declaration when he was authorised by none other than the State BJP president to sign on behalf of the party. This treacherous act will not go unchallenged,” the Core Committee said in a statement on Monday.
On the other hand, the Core Committee has threatened to impose a shutdown on February 1, if the Election Commission of India goes ahead with the issue of election notification for the 60-member Nagaland Assembly on Wednesday.
Putting pressure on the Election Commission, ten legislators of the ruling NPF on Monday resigned as members of the Nagaland Assembly in view of the growing demand from civil society groups to defer the February 27 Assembly polls,
Those who quit are former Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tokheho Yepthomi, former Roads and Bridges Minister Neikiesalie Nicky Kire, former Environment Minister Neiba Kronu, S. Pangnyu Phom, Zhaleo Rio, Deo Nukhu, C.M. Chang, Pohwang Konyak, Namri Nchang and Neiba Kronu.
“We have resigned as members of the Assembly as well as from the primary membership of the NPF in response to the public call for ‘Solution before Election’ to pave the way for an early solution to the protracted Naga political (insurgency) problem,” Yepthomi told IANS.
“Last month, the Nagaland Assembly adopted a resolution urging the government of India to take emergent and extraordinary steps for an ‘honourable and acceptable solution’ to the Naga political issue before the elections. We are hopeful that the Indian government will respect the sentiments of the Naga people,” the NPF legislator said.
In order to calm the political situation, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that holding of timely elections is a constitutional process and the government is bound by the Constitution
“We believe that peaceful election in Nagaland will facilitate the ongoing peace talks and strengthen our commitment,” Rijiju tweeted.
“Holding of timely election is a constitutional process. Government is bound by the Constitution. The government of India attaches utmost importance to the long-pending Naga issue,” the Union Minister said.
The separatist National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Issac Muivah, which had signed the Framework Agreement to end Naga insurgency in August 2015 with the central government, had claimed that the decision to hold elections was bound to undermine the progress in the ongoing parleys.
In 2017, the Centre signed an agreement with a working committee comprising six Naga national political groups (Naga rebel factions).
This is the second time in recent years that assembly elections in Nagaland are heading for a boycott. In 1998, the NSCN-IM and Naga Hoho had called for a poll boycott after it signed a ceasefire with the Indian government in 1997. However, the Congress party which was ruling Nagaland then had swept the elections by winning 53 of 60 seats, as other parties heeded the call.