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No Central rule in Nagaland |
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The Union cabinet has rejected a reference to impose Presi¬dent Rule in Nagaland after it failed to reach a consensus on the proposal.
“The reference to impose President’s rule in Nagaland was considered and rejected by the cabinet,” a highly-placed source said on Dec. 24.
Congress leaders from the state have been trying for over two weeks to convince the central leadership to dismiss the Neiphiu Rio-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government.
They held meetings with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, claiming that the state government had been reduced to a minority.
Sources said the Cabinet members were so divided on the issue that the proposal was summarily rejected. A majority of the members was of the opinion that it would be pointless to impose President’s rule in a state that was going to have Assembly polls in a couple of months.
The political crisis in Nagaland began after the DAN govern¬ment survived a no-confidence motion on December 13 by a razor-thin majority.
The Congress that had moved the motion has since been con¬testing Speaker Kiyanielie Peseyie’s ruling in favour of the government. The party, which recently formed the Nagaland Pro¬gressive Alliance (NPA) with some disgruntled legislators of the Nagaland People’s Front, the Janata Dal (United) and three Inde¬pendents, claimed to have majority support in the Assembly.
As the NPA leaders started lobbying in Delhi for imposition of President’s rule in the state, the BJP, which is part of the DAN, charged the Congress with playing the toppling game in Nagaland just months before the elections with a “sinister design”. BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy alleged that the Congress had a “sinister design” to misuse the government machin¬ery.
Chief Minister Rio also warned that any attempt to impose central rule in the state would derail the ongoing Naga peace process. “Any attempt to dislodge a democratically-elected gov¬ernment will have serious ramifications on the ongoing peace process,” he said recently.
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