Straight fight for lone Nagaland LS seat
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network
Dimapur, March 09 2014:
Nagaland is heading to witness a straight fight between chief minister Neiphiu Rio of the Naga People's Front (NPF) and former Nagaland minister KV Pusa of the Congress party in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.
So far there is no sign of any independent candidate contesting in the forth coming Lok Sabha polls, it is going to be a clash of the NPF block and that of the Congress party for the lone Parliamentary seat of the state.
Interestingly, both KV Pusa and Neiphiu Rio were senior cabinet ministers in the SC Jamir led Congress ministry in Nagaland.
Pusa lost in the Nagaland assembly polls of 2013 .
Both Rio and Pusa hail from the Angami tribe.
Meanwhile, the likely vote-planks for both the NPF and the Congress party are the Naga political issue, the Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) issue (demand of a separate state), the economic development of rural Nagaland and of course peace in Nagaland.
Both Pusa and Rio have their shares of advantages and otherwise.
Being from the party which is in its peak of popularity in Nagaland, Rio is confident of harvesting votes through this perspective.
Another advantage for Rio is, the imminent coming back of NDA at the Centre.
NPF is an alliance of the BJP led NDA.
In Nagaland, Rio is the consensus candidate of BJP, JD-U, NCP and the NPF.
For KV Pusa, he can take advantage in the ENPO areas in the districts of Tuensang, Mon, Kiphire and Longleng.
ENPO has been very vocal accusing the Nagaland Government of not paying attention in these four Nagaland districts.
The demand to create a separate state 'Frontier Nagaland' by carving out these four Nagaland districts in the past few years has become very vocal under the regime of NPF.
Another advantage for KV Pusa can be that he is a Congress candidate fighting against the NPF which is the stuanch supporter of the saffron party at the Centre.
There is a general view among the Christians that the BJP is a Hindu based political party.
Nagaland is a Christian dominated state.
However, so far this view among the Nagas who are Christians has not been reflected in the various elections.
The NPF has won assembly elections for the third term last year.