Campaign begins shyly in poll-bound Nagaland
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Dimapur, January 11 2013: As the election campaigns shyly and coyly begin in Nagaland, the very principle and the motif of the Joint Legislature Forum (JLF) floated last year by the 60 legislators of Nagaland assembly seems to be on the wane.

Any election campaign means the game of hitting hard the rivals as much as you can.

This is the sole reason the JLF is gradually cracking and drifting apart.

Meanwhile, the Naga People's Party (NPF) has alleged today that the Congress has made every effort to hijack the agenda of the Naga issue without any sincerity in solving the problem but they have only ended up fooling themselves.

"They should not take the intelligence of the people for granted by trying to confuse the people," the NPF said in a press communique this evening.

Earlier, the NPF had accused former Nagaland chief minister and Congress party stalwart SC Jamir of hobnobbing with Manipur chief minister O Ibobi Singh.

The NPF had called Ibobi Singh as one of the most bitter enemies of the Nagas.

The NPF's comment was based on the case where SC Jamir and few other Congress leaders from Nagaland had come to Imphal recently and reportedly sought their support for the ensuing Nagaland assembly elections.

On Friday, SC Jamir in local newspapers clarified regarding their recent Manipur tour and said, "As members of the same Congress family, it was felt strongly by the delegation that the chief minister of Manipur should be apprised of the genuine feelings of all sections of the people involved in the ongoing political process and also that decades of political negotiation is on the threshold of final consummation in which the Manipur has to play its positive role" .

Meanwhile, in its lengthy media communique today, the NPF claims that the government of Nagaland has consistently been urging the negotiating parties of the Indo-Naga political dialogue, especially the Government of India, to expedite the peace process and bring about an early political settlement that is honorable and acceptable to the people.

"Ever since 2003, the NPF has given the commitment that it is willing to step down and pave way for an alternative/interim arrangement consequent upon any honorable and acceptable political settlement that may come about from the political dialogue," the press note of NPF added.

It can be noted here that things in Nagaland scene got a dramatic turn after the Election Commission of India (ECI) had announced to conduct the state assembly polls before March 18 .

The current Nagaland assembly term expires on March 18 .

On January 4, Chief Election Commissioner V.S Sampath had said in Dimapur that the state assembly elections would be conducted before March 18 .

A complete team of ECI had come to Dimapur on January 3 and had met top bureaucrats of the state and the leaders of political parties.

After having had met all those who matter, V.S.Sampath had said he had instructed all the district magistrates in Nagaland to start preparing for the assembly elections.

11.9 lakh voters will go to the polls in Nagaland of which 6 lakhs are males where 5.9 voters are females.

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