All seems to be not well within the Opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) in Nagaland. While the office bearers of all frontal organisations of six Assembly constituencies and representatives of central and division offices announced their resignation en masse from the party on Thursday, party president Shürhozelie Liezietsu suspended 19 Mon division office bearers from both primary and active membership of the party with immediate effect and until further order on the day, plunging the party into a sort of crisis.
The resignation of the office bearers of six Assembly units came a day after seven central office bearers resigned from the party on Wednesday.
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Seven Assembly unit presidents of the NPF had resigned on May 3 to join the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) after the NPF suspended seven of its MLAs last month.
In a letter to the NPF president, the office bearers of 46, 47, 48, 49, 53 and 54 Assembly constituencies said the party leaders of all frontal organisations of area, town, ward, village units and representatives of central and division offices held an emergency meeting in the respective Assembly constituencies following the suspension and filing of disqualification petition against seven party MLAs.
The meeting discussed the present imbroglio within NPF and the facts and evidences of alleged anti-party activities by the MLAs.
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The meeting viewed that the party high command, without proper consultation at the grassroots levels and before declaration of the Lok Sabha election results, had taken a “harsh decision” against the seven legislators simply because they had declared their moral support to another regional party’s candidate in the April 11 parliamentary election in the state as no NPF official candidate was in the fray.
In the letter, they said they can no longer be in NPF where decisions are taken by a few functionaries without considering future ramifications and are compelled to resign en masse from both active and primary membership of the party with immediate effect.
In the suspension order to the 19 Mon division office bearers, Liezietsu said it has been confirmed through confidential source/report that they had supported NDPP candidate Tokheho Yepthomi in the last parliamentary to the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland, which is totally against the collective decision of the party.
The order also said the 19 had also threatened to lock the Mon division NPF office during the joint meeting with the central office bearers in-charge of Mon, along with the legislature wing in-charge of Mon division, on May 2.
This is unbecoming on their part as a responsible party office bearers and a total breach of party discipline, it said.
The order also said they had through the utterances ascertained their intention to destabilize the party and carry out anti-party activities rather than strengthening the party.