Spokesperson of the NPF Legislature party (Kaito), Imkong L. Imchen expressed dismay at Dr. Shürhozelie and T.R. Zeliang for making “personalized attacks on Neiphiu Rio”, since it was Rio who had “provided a stable and sustainable government to the people of Nagaland till 2013 by securing massive mandates in every election”.
In a press statement, Imchen said it was “painful and condemnable” to note that Dr. Shürhozelie and T.R. Zeliang were making “personalized attacks on Neiphiu Rio due to their sheer frustration”, adding that it was unnacceptable to the people of Nagaland and which posterity would judge the truth.
Imchen said it was therefore, imperative to clarify to the public “from any confusion about the recent political developments in the state”, that as people’s elected representatives, they(Kaito group) were well aware of the responsibilities towards the people and fully conscious of the fact they were always answerable to the people.
He said under Rio’s leadership, the people of Nagaland accepted NPF “as a dependable and trustworthy political party”. Imchen said Rio’s exemplary leadership qualities since 2003 caught the imagination of the people of Nagaland, when they reposed their faith and confidence by giving massive mandate to his leadership to lead the forrmation of NPF-led DAN Government.
He further said “it goes without saying that much of the credit goes to the leadership of Neiphiu Rio in person”.
On Rio’s decision to start another political inning as Lok Sabha MP, Imchen said it was endorsed by the NPF party as well as DAN partners and the people of Nagaland.
He said as a result of Rio’s election to the Lok Sabha, the leadership issue cropped up requiring change of guard. Imchen said that the matter was amicably settled in favour of T.R. Zeliang because of Rio’s personal intervention.
Expressing regret that under the leadership of Dr. Shurhozelie president and T.R. Zeliang as the chief minister, Imchen said “discrimination against its own party MLAs began despite several advises to them against such ill-motivated designs”.
Imchen said suggestions made by a large section of the party legislature and rank and file to initiate genuine reconciliation, to safeguard the conscience and unity of the party, were “flatly rejected under these two persons’ leadership”.
“Besides the weak leadership issue, under these two persons, the goodwill and confidence established with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) under the leadership of Neiphiu Rio was systematically dismantled rendering the people of Nagaland in complete financial chaos”, Imchen stated.
He also said the Naga political issue, the main agenda of the NPF party and DAN, was “almost relegated to the historical dustbin despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi having given enough indication of his concern about this issue”. The agenda of NPF as a dependable facilitator in this regard was set aside, he added.
On change of leadership, Imchen said G. Kaito Aye, as leader of the majority of NPF Legislators and party rank and file, had sincerely initiated discussions for the prevalence of internal democracy and change of leadership with president Dr. Shürhozelie several times.
He said the “erstwhile president had assured Kaito and others that he would allow inner democracy to prevail and would respect the majority view of the legislators”. However, Imchen said to the utter surprise, Dr. Shürhozelie “started committing massive violation of party constitution by suspending several NPF MLAs from the membership of the party”.
Imchen pointed out that the MLAs were elected by the people but not by Dr. Shürhorzelie alone.
He reiterated that chief minister T.R. Zelaing, having lost the majority support and confidence of the party MLAs, was expected to honorably step down and pave way for G. Kaito Aye as Kaito “enjoys the massive popular support of the NPF as well as the DAN MLAs”.
Accusing Zeliang and Dr. Shürhozelie of being “drunk with power”, Imchen said they “have lost all their moral senses and are exhibiting disrespect to the people of the state and also of established democratic norms”.
Under the given circumstances, Imchen said the majority of NPF Legislators along with DAN partners have no option but “to stand steadfast against the leadership of Dr. Shurhozelie and T.R. Zeliang for their acts of massive omission and commission” adding that they trusted that people of the state would accept their statement in the right perspective.
NPF (Noke-Kaito) takes a dig at Zeliang
Reacting to the report of T.R. Zeliang’s visit to Delhi along with other NPF members led by Dr. Shürhozelie, NPF (Noke-Kaito group) claimed that Zeliang was “denied appointment with any of the leaders and rather went and met BJP leaders pleading for their support.”
In a statement, press and media cell said that “the minority chief minister T.R. Zeliang returned from Delhi red faced and without any answers after assuring his supporters that he would meet the Prime Minister and union Home Minister in order to get the support of the Government of India”.
Citing state BJP unit statement, the cell pointed out that they (BJP) had clearly specified that “in his embarrassment of having being denied appointment by the PM and HM, T.R. Zeliang, sounded more like a BJP spokesperson giving telephonic information to sections of the local media over phone”.
The cell further said it condemned and rejected the efforts of Zeliang “speaking to the leaders of the civil societies and mass based organizations to pressure the Governor to call a special session of the Assembly”.
The cell claimed that Zeliang had been “sending text messages to civil society leaders to go and meet and pressurize the Governor from his personal mobile number”. “He has stooped to such low levels of politics that he has even begun to undermine the civil society leaders of Naga society”, it added.
Terming it unfortunate that Zeliang had “tried to politicize the civil societies”, the cell however said it was confident that the respectable Naga civil society leaders and the mass based organizations would not undertake any such action in the greater interest of neutrality and remaining apolitical. It said: “The minority chief minister should not undermine the Naga organizations in his own personal interest”.
Reiterating that the ongoing problem was an internal matter of the NPF, the cell said there was no need of any Assembly session at this juncture. Rather, it said that the “minority chief minister should immediately step down as he has lost the popular support of the majority of the NPF and DAN MLAs”.
Thursday, February 19, 2026