Law and order, corruption to be Congress poll planks in Nagaland

Law and order and corruption would be the two major poll planks of the Congress when it takes on Naga Peoples Front (NPF)-led ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) in the coming municipal elections and next year’s assembly polls in Nagaland, party sources said today.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) here yesterday to discuss the present situation in the state and to outline the party’s strategy to take on DAN in power since 2003.

Elections to four municipal councils and 15 town committees in the state is likely to be held in April and the assembly poll is due in early 2013.

A copy of the resolutions adopted during the meeting, made available to the media, said the municipal elections would be an indicator of the next year’s assembly poll.

The battle for the assembly would begin in the coming elections to urban local bodies itself since the NPF "ensured previous victories in every election through unconstitutional means of money and muscle power" for which Congress has remained in the opposition for past nine years.

NPCC outlined two poll planks—rampant corruption and glaring nepotism leading to misuse of huge central funds and lack of development, economic stagnation and escalating unemployment besides, deteriorating law and order situation causing escalation of factional feuds and unabated extortion leading to sky rocketing of prices of commodities.

The meeting alleged that corruption and lack of law and order had become perennial features of the DAN government due to 'unprecedented misgovernance' of the regime.

NPCC said "Deteriorating law and order, escalating factional feuds and growing sense of public insecurity is a typical carbon copy of lawlessness and constitutional breakdown in the state," the NPCC said resolving to intensify anti-corruption measures on a 'war footing'.

"Parallel governments are existing in the state and DAN has no hold over the eroding situation,"  it said.

The meeting entrusted NPCC to 'rigorously' track and 'pin down' tainted persons or officials in various departments, urgently in education and home departments. Five FIRs were filed in the State Vigilance Commission against the two departments.

It said the government’s recent directive to enforce 'no work, no pay' on employees for poor attendance spoke volumes on the morale of government machineries in a 'morally and financially corrupt establishment'.

The DAN government had even failed to fulfil its constitutional obligation as no public leader or minister could hoist the national flag on Republic Day at the headquarter towns of four border districts due to strike by students organisations.

The meeting decided to bring this failure of the state government to the notice of the centre, one of the resolutions said.