Congress reaches out to rebel groups to get lost land in Nagaland, hopes from Church too Congress’s

In Nagaland, the country’s grand old party Congress is reaching out to insurgent groups to regain its lost ground. The party is already gearing up to strengthen its hold among various sections of the society for the assembly elections to be held later this year. A team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is visiting the state to review the preparations for the elections to the 60-member assembly due this year. In the last state elections in 2018, the Congress was not able to win a single seat. In 2013, the Congress had eight MLAs.

Last month, Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) president K Theri asked “all like-minded leaders and political parties” to join hands to form a secular front. However, the election campaign in Nagaland will not be easy for the Congress. The return of the Congress in the state will depend on several factors. First of all, the party will have to take a strong anti-Hindu stand in this Christian majority state. Besides, the delay in the Naga peace talks could also be a factor.

Will Congress reach out to insurgent groups?

The Indian Express quoted sources in the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee as saying that the party is in talks with the Church and the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) to regain its position in the state. The NNPG is the largest body of the six Naga insurgent groups. Simply put, the NNPG is the umbrella body of the six most influential Naga insurgent groups from the state. The insurgent groups under it are among the most influential in Nagaland and wield considerable influence over the Naga electorate.

Congress will make Naga peace talks an issue?

Naga peace talks are progressing very slowly. Before coming to power in 2018, the NDPP-BJP alliance had made an election promise of providing a solution to the seven-decade-long conflict. The Congress is currently focusing on the failure to fulfill this promise and the delay. All India Congress Committee (AICC) state in-charge Ranjit Mukherjee told The Indian Express, “Unlike the BJP-NDPP, we are not going to promise anything that we cannot fulfill. Didn’t keep the promise.”

Congress’s access to NNPG is important. Unlike the NSCN(IM), the NNPG has sided with the solution proposed by the central government since the official conclusion of the peace talks in 2019. But more interestingly, the NNPG group is unhappy with the perceived closeness between rivals NSCN (IM) and NDPP.

People’s mood is not for elections, but for Naga political solution: Nagaland Congress chief

An All India Congress Committee (AICC) delegation led by senior party observer Mukul Wasnik from Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura on Wednesday held a meeting with Nagaland Congress President and Working President Bobby Panicker on the upcoming assembly elections in Nagaland. The meeting mainly discussed the possibility of declaring elections or imposing President’s rule in Nagaland.

Sharing his views, Nagaland Congress chief K Theri said that the mood of the people in the state is not for elections as they want to implement an agreed political solution to the Naga issue. However, he said, if the ruling BJP and Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) in Nagaland go for elections against the will of the people, the Nagaland Congress is ready to fight it.