Kohima/Dimapur, June 8: The Nagaland Congress has revealed that a delegation of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government, led by chief minister Neiphiu Rio, met senior AICC leaders in New Delhi last week and expressed their wish to return to the Congress fold. The state unit of the Congress said it would have nothing to do with the DAN under Rio’s leadership. “They have started showing their real colours,” said PCC general secretary Yesonu Veyie in a release.
Describing Rio and his colleagues as “political chameleons”, Veyie accused them of not having “an iota of conviction in the ideologies of the party they belong to”.
Former chief minister S.C. Jamir has ruled out any chances of Rio or others being readmitted to the party. Rio, on the other hand, has iterated his commitment to the DAN government and his partners.
The chief minister had paid a visit to New Delhi last week and discussed the peace process with top leaders, including Union home minister Shivraj Patil.
There are also allegations that leaders of other BJP allies in the Northeast were establishing contact with AICC leaders to gain entry into the ruling party at the Centre.
The AICC leaders have reportedly advised DAN leaders belonging to the Nagaland People’s Front to seek PCC president S.C. Jamir’s clearance before approaching the high command.
“Their request to the AICC to take them back into the Congress shows the total shamelessness on the part of these opportunists,” Veyie said today.
He pointed out that Rio had been widely reported in the media before the parliamentary elections as saying that the Congress era in the state as well as the country was over and that Atal Bihari Vajpayee and not Sonia Gandhi would head the 14th Lok Sabha as Prime Minister.
He also pointed out that Rio played a pivotal role in forming the North East People’s Forum (NEPF), “the brainchild of P.A. Sangma, which is still an ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance”.
The Congress leader recalled that Rio, while addressing a news conference on May 13 after a clear picture of the political configurations in the country emerged, had said, “The Congress is not the enemy. In politics, anything can happen.”
He added that Rio has been repeatedly saying that he resigned from the Congress party because he did not agree with the programmes and policies of the party and its leadership.
The PCC general secretary made it clear that the rank and file of the state unit would reject the attempts of “Rio and his cronies” to be readmitted into the Congress fold.
“The AICC does not admit people into the party fold without the consent or approval of the state unit concerned,” the PCC general secretary added.