Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 21
Following the reconciling of feuding NPF Councillors in the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC), the trust vote scheduled on May 22 stands cancelled. The Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur, through a notification on May 14, had called for a “Special Meeting” of the DMC to settle a ‘No-Confidence Motion’ filed by 12 Councillors of the 23-member Council. The motion was filed on May 11 by 6 NPF Councillors, including the incumbent Deputy Chairperson Imlinaro Ezung, and 6 BJP Councillors led by Kuhoi Zhimo.
The NPF and BJP Councillors had teamed up to dislodge the sitting Chairperson Hukheto Yepthomi, NPF Councillor from Ward-15. Awaiting the trust vote, the group of 12 — 6 NPF and 6 BJP — was holed up at a resort in Guwahati. Meanwhile, the remaining 11, led by Chairperson Yepthomi, camped at a hotel in Chümoukedima. The DMC currently has 17 NPF and 6 BJP Councillors.
The intrigue came to a closure after the feuding NPF Councillors unconditionally reconciled, as stated in a statement the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson jointly released to the media by on May 20. “Since all Members have reconciled and agreed to work together as one united team, there is now no need to carry out any trust vote, therefore we have officially communicated to the concerned authorities to call off the trust vote,” their statement said. As per the statement, the reconciliation was brokered by the NPF’s top leadership.
On May 21, the DC issued an order cancelling the ‘Special Meeting’ scheduled for May 22 to conduct the trust vote of the DMC subsequent to the receipt of “a formal written communication” informing of the withdrawal of support by “6 members out of the original 12 signatories.” According to the order, the cancellation was necessitated after 6 NPF Councillors withdrew support to the no-confidence motion against the incumbent Chairperson submitted, together with the BJP, on May 11.
The order said, “In their signed declaration, these members have explicitly withdrawn their support and signatures from the aforementioned notice before the special meeting was convened.” The withdrawal of support reduced the quorum required for sustaining a No-Confidence Motion.
It said that the authenticity of the signatures were verified and satisfied that the withdrawal of support had been made voluntarily, “without any coercion or undue influence, and reflects the current and collective will of the said signatories.”
The DC’s order cited Section 15 (2) of the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2023, stating, “A written notice of intention to move a motion of no confidence must be signed by not less than one-half of the total elected members to be legally maintainable.” It added, “In view of the withdrawal of signatures by 6 members, the notice for the said no confidence motion stands at 6, which is less than one-half of the total strength of 23 members.”
As per Section 60F of the same Act, the quorum necessary for conducting a ‘special meeting’ (or no-confidence motion) is “one-half of the total elected members actually serving at the time.” Section 15 (6), which deals with the ‘Removal of Chairperson/Deputy Chairperson,’ states that the motion of no-confidence “shall be deemed to have been carried only when it has been passed by a majority of elected members present and voting.”
The order came attached with a letter the DC wrote the same day to the Commissioner and Secretary, Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, informing of the development.
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