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Union Cabinet for President’s Rule in Nagaland

Special Correspondent

Recommendation sent to Pratibha

Murder of democracy: Minister
“NPA is a mockery”

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet’s recommendation to bring Nagaland under President’s Rule was on Wednesday sent to President Pratibha Patil, who is on a visit to Hyderabad, said sources in the government.

The Cabinet decided on the recommendation on Tuesday as the Neiphiu Rio government in the northeast State has been beset with political uncertainty.

Elections

Nagaland is scheduled to go to the polls next month.

Last month, as many as 30 legislators met the President seeking the dismissal of the Rio government as it had lost majority on the floor of the Assembly.

Sushanta Talukdar reports from Guwahati:

The Nephiu Rio-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government has described the recommendation of President’s Rule as “murder of democracy.”

The Nagaland Industries and Commerce Minister K. Zhimomi told The Hindu over phone: “It is murder of democracy and undermining of the people’s mandate. The people will give a fitting reply by rejecting such autocratic action of the Congress-led government at the Centre through the ballot box.”

Political crisis

The political crisis began on December 13 when the Assembly met for a day’s session to take up a no-confidence motion moved by the Congress-led Nagaland Progressive Alliance (NPA) against the DAN government.

The opposition Congress claimed that 31 legislators had voted in favour of the no-trust motion and 23 legislators had voted against it. The Speaker, however, declared the votes of nine dissident legislators of the ruling Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) to be invalid on the grounds of defying party whip and ruled that the motion against the coalition government had failed. He also declared that the votes of the three Independents invalid, saying they had earlier supported the NPF and were now wanting to support the Congress.

NPF president Shürhozelie Liezietsu claimed that altogether 19 had voted in favour of the Congress-sponsored motion while 23 voted against it. Thus the motion was defeated and the Rio government survived. Mr. Shürhozelie said the votes of three independents and nine NPF dissidents were not counted in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

The effective strength of the 60-member House was reduced to 55 following the resignation of five legislators — four from the ruling NPF and one BJP resigned over the past six months.

The DAN government which initially comprised the NPF, BJP and the JD(U) has now been reduced to a two-party coalition of the NPF and the BJP after the JD(U) quit and sided with the Congress. Of the 24 legislators belonging to the two-party ruling coalition the NPF strength is 18 and the BJP’s strength is six.

The NPA comprises 17 members of the Congress, two of the JD (U), three Independents and nine NPF members, who resigned from the ruling party.

After the failure of the motion, Congress MLAs rushed to Delhi and called on President Pratibha Patil demanding the dismissal of the NPF-led Government in the state. The opposition Congress had been demanding the invocation of President’s Rule under Article 356 over the alleged deterioration of the law and order situation in the state. Speaking to reporters in Guwahati, Mr. Rio had described the Congress-led NPA, “an illegal alliance of the Congress with defectors.”

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