Willing to sit in opposition if needed
Newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors of the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) have raised to pertinent issues with regard to post-Urban Local Body poll scenario where they were kept in the dark about the election of chairperson and deputy chairperson of DMC by both the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and their BJP leadership.
In a statement Media Cell of the BJP Councillors highlighted that while the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) coalition agreement in recent two elections was in the ratio of 40(NDPP):20(BJP) for seat-sharing, in the DMC polls both partners contested against each other.
They said the situation was corroborated by public statements from NDPP legislators representing Dimapur-II and Dimapur-III assembly constituencies. Further the BJP councillors lamented that neither BJP nor NDPP leadership informed them about the selection process for DMC chairperson and deputy chairperson.
They said the NDPP went ahead with election without consultation as a result of which BJP councillors were neither able to participate nor propose their candidates. Further, the BJP councillors expressed their surprise upon reading in newspapers that BJP legislators had requested the NDPP to appoint a deputy chairperson from the BJP, a move made without their consent.
They concluded that in view of the above, BJP councillors were willing to move to the opposition if necessary while reaffirming their commitment to adhering to the directives of the BJP high command.
“…We would like to state that if needed be we are willing to sit in the opposition,’ the BJP councillors stated.
It may be mentioned that the NDPP won 13 wards out of 23 in the recently held DMC election, while the BJP secured six wards, Independent and NPP two each. However, the tally of NDPP rose to 15 following the merger of two Independent members. Later, the two NPP members also extended support to the NDPP.