Nagaland: BJP manifesto failed to highlight Naga political issue and ENPO demand, says Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on February 16 said it was now time for the people of Nagaland to reflect and rethink the “bluff” that the NDPP-BJP coalition has played upon them.

Addressing media persons in Kohima, Ramesh said the BJP- NDPP coalition government must come clean on their intentions for the people of Nagaland before seeking the mandate.

He pointed out that the Naga political issue found no mention in the 41-page BJP manifesto while the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) demand did not find a place in its ‘vision document.

He said the ENPO delegation lived its word by relaxing it's August 16, 2022, the resolution not to participate in any election process but Union home minister Amit Shah’s promised visit to eastern Nagaland in January to discuss the issue with stakeholders never happened. “What has kept the government and the home minister to walk the talk,” Ramesh asked.

He said the ENPO relaxed the resolution on February 4 with immediate effect following the request of the MHA and the subsequent assurance given by the home minister to its officials on February 2 that a solution as mutually agreed will be reached upon following the due process after completion of the election process.

Also Read: Nagaland run by multiple self-styled governments,employees paying 24 percent tax from their monthly salary: Congress leader K Therie

He said this assurance given to the Naga people is not solitary and added that the manner in which the issue is being tackled is the characteristic trait of the BJP’s empty promises. “Else why would it not find a place in their vision document,” he asked.

The Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP said the BJP seeks to return to power for the second time in a row without accountability and without even uttering a word on Naga political solution in its manifesto.

“What face does the home minister have to show to the trusting people of Nagaland when he comes to campaign here? What response would he or PM Narendra Modi give if asked about the series of missed deadlines, and failed commitments in terms of the resolution of the Naga political solution,” Ramesh asked.

He said BJP national president JP Nadda inaugurated a half-cooked but elaborate document that only makes a mention of a few perks for the eastern region, most of which have already been proposed at length in the Congress manifesto two weeks ago.

According to Ramesh, the BJP’s promises to build all-weather roads, a railway network by 2024, self-employment opportunities for youth, a slew of welfare schemes and promises for investment in cultural research do not mean a thing to an average Nagaland citizen who is deprived of even piped water supply or smooth power supply.

Saying that Congress initiated the solution to the Naga political issue, he said it is yet again one of the topmost promises in the party manifesto.