Kohima, May 17: Nagaland PCC president S.C. Jamir has stalled the plans of chief minister Neiphiu Rio of supporting the Congress-led government at the Centre. Speaking over phone from New Delhi, former chief minister Jamir said Rio and his allies would not be allowed to join the Congress. “They are from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and were supporting the fundamentalists. How can they join the Congress?” he asked.
After the defeat of the BJP-led NDA in the general election, the Northeast People’s Forum (NEPF) with Rio as its convener has decided to chalk out a strategy for the “development and welfare” of the northeastern states.
The forum, comprising mostly regional parties and non-Congress allies, has suffered a blow when Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling quit last week to support the Congress-led alliance at the Centre.
However, Chamling has also been “rejected” by the Congress, Jamir said.
Rio, finance minister Therie and some other leaders from Nagaland are in Delhi, and they might soon meet Sonia Gandhi.
Sources said the Nagaland leaders met former defence minister George Fernandes to take stock of the situation.
On May 13, Rio had told reporters that his party might support the Congress-led alliance. “Everything is possible in politics,” he said. The chief minister said he was willing to join the Congress so that the peace process in the state with the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) does not get derailed.
Given Jamir’s strong opposition to Rio’s Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) joining the Congress, the newly-elected Lok Sabha MP from Nagaland, Wangyuh Konyak, will have to remain satisfied on the Opposition benches. A similar fate awaits T.R. Zeliang of the NPF, which leads the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland government, in the Rajya Sabha.
Jamir, former chairman of the Northeast Congress Co-ordination Committee, is likely to become a key figure in the new government’s approach to the Northeast.