AMN
Nagaland appears to be heading for a political crisis, with the former Chief Minister T R Zeliang staking his claim to form the government. In a letter to Governor P.B. Acharya, he claimed the support of 41 of the 59 MLAs, after a majority of ruling NPF legislators rebelled against incumbent Shurhozelie Liezietsu.
Zeliang claimed, 34 rebel MLAs of the Naga People’s Front and seven independents are rallying behind him. Nagaland assembly has a strength of 60 members.
In his letter to the Governor, Zeliang said: “The legislators also urged the present Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu, who is a non-legislator, to resign and pave way for me (Zeliang) to take over as the Chief Minister.”
Acharya is in Maharashtra and he is expected to return to Nagaland in a few days.
The fresh political instability has come at a time when Liezietsu is gearing up for the July 29 by-election from the Northern Angami-I assembly constituency.
Liezietsu was sworn in as Chief Minister on February 22 this year after Zeliang resigned following violent protest by tribal groups who were opposed to his move to hold civic polls with 33 per cent reservation for women.
The Chief Minister said that he was deeply pained by the recent disturbing developments affecting the normal functioning of the government.
“The current issue is within the NPF party and will be resolved at the earliest to bring about normalcy in the state. The mandate of the people will be respected and the present crisis will be resolved in the larger interest of the people of the state,” Liezietsu stated.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Dr. Liezietsu said, the current issue is an internal matter and will be resolved at the earliest.
Governor Acharya has dropped four ministers on the recommendation of Chief Minister Liezietsu. They are State Home Minister Y.Patton, National Highway and Political Affairs Minister G Kaito Aye, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Imkong L Imchen and Power Minister C. Kipili. All the four have rebelled against Liezietsu and joined the camp of Zeliang. Zeliang, who was Advisor-Finance, has also quit his post.
The crisis within Nagaland’s Naga People’s Front (NPF) government has further deepened with Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu on Sunday sacked four top ministers and 10 Parliamentary Secretaries following a demand for his removal.