Dimapur, August 7 (MExN): The Rising People’s Party (RPP) on Sunday urged “all the ranks and files” of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) to “leave the party without delay,” accusing the party of “plain treachery.”
“From championing regionalism/Naga identity to embracing a national party is called opportunistic politics, and when the party is none other than the NDPP it’s nothing less than plain treachery,” stated the RPP in a press release.
It further said non-refutation of a recent news report by a “senior journalist based in New Delhi” that the “NDPP may merge with the BJP” after 2023 election, was an instance of such politics.
For the RPP, the post- 2023 election merger, if true, presents a “clear and present danger to the state.”
If this information is correct, the Chief Minister and the 41 NDPP MLAs, and all the rank and file of the party are now “basically Karyakartas of the BJP,” the RPP alleged.
Since 2003, the present CM has championed himself as a regional strongman who managed to keep Delhi at bay, but today the “Fortress Nagaland” is in danger, thanks to the merger pact, it said.
The NDPP has “betrayed” the strong regional spirit of the Naga people, it added.
The State requires a strong regional party to protect the interest of Nagaland but with the NPF rendered crippled, and the NDPP soon to be extinct, Nagas are entering an era of fear and confusion, the RPP further elaborated.
Meanwhile, calling it a “period of leadership crisis and utter confusion,” the RPP said that it is ready to “rise to the occasion and stand,, guard, and protect our people where others have failed,” though it is young party.
The leadership crisis is perhaps not different from 1998-2003 when the then ‘Opposition-less’ Congress government failed to read the pulse of the Naga people and was completely humiliated in the 2003 general elections, it added.
The RPP further stated that while the party is for Naga solution, if there’s no solution and election is held as scheduled, the NDPP should not be allowed to take “Nagas for a ride.”
It also vowed to keep the regional identity alive and urged “patriotic Nagas and intellectuals to rise up from their sleep and stop traitors from winning elections.”
