Nagaland: CM Zeliang decides to step down, NPF legislators to select new CM on Monday

In a letter to the all legislators of Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) and Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN), Zeliang said that he had decided to step down from his office and to select a new consensus leader to succeed him.

Zeliang also called an emergency meeting of the NPF Legislator Party at 10 am on Feb 20 at the state Banquet Hall.

Following the NPF Legislator Party meeting, a meeting of the DAN will be held at around 11 am at the same place.

In his letter, Zeliang urged all legislators of his party to attend the meeting so as to select a consensus leader to ensure smooth transaction of the office and to provide the best governance to the people of Nagaland.

Meanwhile, a top source of NPF said that, former chief minister and present Lok Sabha member Neiphiu Rio is likely to get the nod from the legislators of NPF and DAN.

On Feb 18, at least 40 NPF legislators met in a secret meeting at a resort in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park (KNP) who lodged at the resort on the night of Feb 17.

The agitating tribal groups of the north eastern Indian state have been demanding the resignation of Zeliang over his decision to hold the Urban Local Body (ULB) poll in the state with 33 percent women reservation.

Apart from the tribal groups, the NSCN-GPRN also threatened to violate the ceasefire agreement if Zeliang did not step down.

To deal with the political stalemate in state, Governor P B Acharya had rushed to Delhi and discussed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)

Image:PMO India