Shadow on Naga polls as BJP, 10 other parties join boycott camp

KOHIMA: Casting a shadow on assembly elections in Nagaland next month, 11 major parties, including the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF), its ally BJP and Congress, on Monday decided not to field any candidate in the polls until the Centre resolves the decades-old Naga problem.
Peace negotiations between the Centre and Naga militant groups haven't made any headway since the signing of the Naga 'Framework Agreement' in the presence of PM Modi in Delhi in 2015.

The 11 parties signed a 'joint declaration' announcing that they will not field candidates for the February 27 elections. Apart from NPF and the state units of BJP and Congress, the other parties who signed the declaration are NCP, JD(U), AAP, LJP, National People's Party, Nagaland Democratic Progressive Party, United Nagaland Democratic Party and Nagaland Congress.

To send a strong message to the Centre, the Core Committee of Nagaland Tribal Hohos and Civil Organisations (CCNTHCO) has called a bandh on Thursday, a day after the EC will declare a notification for the polls. The signing of the joint declaration was announced at a press conference after a meeting of political parties, Naga Tribal Hohos (apex bodies), NSCN(I-M) (which was one of the signatories to the 'Framework Agreement') and six other Naga militant groups here.

"We have no option but to hit the streets to impose a total bandh on Thursday. The course of our agitation depends on how the government of India reacts to the call of Naga NGOs for the solution (of the Naga issue), and not the election," said CCNTHCO convener Theja Therie. "It is up to the government of India to take a final call on the election and the Nagas are hoping for the best," he added.

Therie warned that any party or candidate opposing the call for 'Solution, And Not Election' and filing nomination papers will be declared 'anti-Naga.' He said all political parties — both national and regional — have 'taken a bold decision not to field candidates and have supported our cause, which shows the Nagas are one and united'.