Along Longkumer
Consulting Editor
Days, months and now years of speculation about a looming crisis in the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Party (NPCC) has always been out in the open, although party bosses have been denying all along about any rift within the top rung leadership. The need for a thorough revamp of the party organization has been written about in these columns as far back as even before the 2008 Assembly Election. At one point of time, there was a theory doing the rounds within the Congress set up here to bring back the veteran SC Jamir to lead the Congress party for the 2008 elections. That was, as mentioned, some years back. Now after another five year term of the NPF led DAN government, the Congress has been once again defeated in the latest hustings, this time reduced to a margin of just 8 seats. Perhaps those of us in Nagaland and in particular the State Congress party will be only too aware of the dreadful truth that there are too many leaders but no one to lead from the front. Till the time Jamir was at the helm of affairs, such a problem did not arise. Post the Jamir era, there has been no one who could fulfill the leadership role.
Interestingly, at the time when a rift within the Nagaland Congress was being openly discussed (including in this column), party bosses including those from the AICC had advised party workers not to listen to ‘rumors’. Perhaps on hindsight it was the ill advised wisdom of the NPCC to ignore such rumors which has led the party to where it is today –not able to take remedial steps. All of us are aware of how the election for the post of the NPCC President turned into an ugly factional fight. The party must face the truth that they have too many leaders at the top while the organizational base remains rudderless without any direction or inspiration. Therefore it is not so much the lack of leadership within the Congress but the problem of too many leaders and also the quality. And when we have too many leaders it will lead to several power centers and finally we have factions within the organizational setup which is detrimental to unity. With infighting and disunity within the party, elections cannot be won.
As per the assessment of this column, the State Congress is clearly failing in projecting a single political personality who can not only lead the party from the front, like Neiphiu Rio for the NPF, but also someone who can keep the party together and one who is able to garner broad based support within the party organization and strengthen it. Off course the bigger question is whether there is any such leader within the Congress at moment. If at all the Congress is serious in reclaiming its past position, it will require more than just relying on the Congress led UPA Government in the Centre. It is not going to be how well Congress President Sonia Gandhi or Prime Minister Manmohan Singh campaigns for the party in Nagaland but rather how strong the party is at home under an equally strong and capable person. Nothing illustrates this better than the recent elections and the dismal performance of the Congress State unit here despite the visit of leaders like Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Blaming only the NPF and its use of money power is not going to help the resurgence of the Congress party in Nagaland. The party needs to stop the denial of all these years and use greater political wisdom to see the writing on the wall. The party will be required to go come out with some bold thinking—such as retiring the veterans and bringing in fresh and talented faces into the party. Retrospection alone will not work. Difficult and even painful decisions will have to be taken for the future wellbeing of the party. The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) will have to accept this fact.
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