Nagaland does a Tamil Nadu: MLAs in Kaziranga resort, want CM replaced

The MLAs, who reached the Kaziranga resort late Friday, held a marathon seven-hour meeting Saturday during which they decided that Zeliang would have to make way for Rio.

Nagaland is staring at a new political crisis, this time on the lines of Tamil Nadu. Over 40 legislators of the ruling Nagaland People’s front (NPF) have been moved to a resort in Kaziranga National Park in neighbouring Assam. Seeking the ouster of Chief Minister T R Zeliang who has been under fire for his handling of the protests against quota for women in urban local bodies and the violence that followed, the MLAs want him replaced by Neiphiu Rio, a former Chief Minister who is now a Lok Sabha MP. Rio, who was expelled from the NPF last year, reached Kaziranga late Saturday night and met the MLAs. To save the NPF-led government in the state, the MLAs want Rio back. The 60-member Nagaland Assembly has no Opposition. All are members of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) — 49 NPF, 4 BJP and 7 Independents.

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The MLAs, who reached the Kaziranga resort late Friday, held a marathon seven-hour meeting Saturday during which they decided that Zeliang would have to make way for Rio.

The legislators have asked NPF president Shurhozelie Liezietsu to revoke the May 2016 order expelling Rio for alleged anti-party activities.

Zeliang has been under tremendous pressure to quit with two public bodies — Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) and Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) — enforcing an indefinite bandh in the state since last Monday. They blame the Chief Minister for the violence that rocked the state after two persons died in police firing on a crowd protesting 33 per cent reservation for women in elections to urban local bodies.

After rejecting calls for his resignation, Zeliang travelled to New Delhi. Sources said he wants to ensure President’s rule is not imposed. Rio arrived in Dimapur Saturday afternoon on a flight from Delhi that also carried Governor P B Acharya.

That a compromise was being worked out was evident from a statement attributed to Liezietsu. It said the legislators at the Kaziranga resort were “still NPF legislators” and that a change in leadership was likely to take place “in a day or two”.

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