Cracks in NPF as Manipur unit refuses to leave BJP-led govt

THE MANIPUR NPF SAID IT HAS NOT RECEIVED AN OFFICIAL INTIMATION FROM PARTY PRESIDENT LIEZIETSU TO WITHDRAW SUPPORT TO THE GOVT

GUWAHATI:Cracks are appearing in the Naga People’s Front (NPF) with its Manipur unit saying that it has no problems with the BJPled coalition government and will continue to be a part of it despite party president and former Nagaland chief minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu’s diktat on Friday to withdraw the support.

The Manipur NPF said that it has not received any official communication from Liezietsu.

In another clear sign of division in the party’s ranks, NPF’s Manipur leaders took part in the Sunday’s North East Democratic Alliance, or NEDA, (the BJP-led umbrella of regional parties) conclave in Guwahati even as senior NPF leaders from Nagaland decided to stay away.

BJP president Amit Shah attended the conclave with other senior leaders of regional parties, including chief ministers Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland), N Biren Singh (Manipur), Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh), Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya), and Biplab Deb (Tripura). Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling didn’t turn up and deputed MP Prem Das Ray.

“We have read (about) it (Liezietsu’s order) in papers. But there is no official communication,” said Awangbow Newmai, who heads Manipur NPF . “We have no problems with the Manipur government. We will continue to be a part of it,” he said.

The BJP has 21 seats in the 60– member House while the NPF and the National People’s Party have four each. The Lok Janshakti Party and the Trinamool Congress have once each while one seat is held by an Independent. The Congress has 28 seats.

On Friday, Shurhozelie Liezietsu had said that there was no reason for the NPF Manipur to continue with the government.

The statement came after former Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang, citing the political drama in Karnataka, came out against state’s governor Padmanabha Acharya questioning why the NPF, with 26 legislators in the 60-member assembly, was not allowed to form the government.

The governor had invited the pre-poll coalition of Neiphiu Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP, 18 MLAs) and the BJP (12 MLAs) to form the government. The coalition managed to cobble up the support of three other MLAs to take it past the majority mark.

“We will approach the governor on Monday and ask him to invite us to form the government ” NPF spokesperson Sebastian Zumvu said.

Asked if the NPF has officially withdrawn from the NEDA, Zumvu said while there is nothing official about it, “the party is effectively out of the NEDA.”