BJP blasts NPF president

BJP has castigated NPF president Dr Shürhozelie Liezietsu for his utterances against the saffron party.  In a statement issued by its media cell on Monday, the State BJP said it was indeed “upsetting and painful” to see tall and respected regional political leaders stooping so low as to go back on their own words just to score some brownie points during elections.
It said public memory might be short but not short enough to forget the fond recollections of the NPF president that the both the parties shared decades-old alliance dating back to Janata government in 1977.
Stating that the alliance between the two parties had started in 2003, which was repeated in the 2013 Assembly elections and continued till last Christmas, BJP pointed out that Shürhozelie had not a word of complaint against BJP then, despite wielding his authority as NPF president.
However, the party regretted that with the change of equation following the alliance between NDPP and BJP and elections round the corner, the “respected and octogenarian” regional leader suddenly seemed to have grown “myopic, forgetful and green with envy”, the release stated.
Asserting that BJP had existed in Nagaland and contested in Wokha and Mon districts in 1987, the party wondered why the issue was raked up just now and not then. It questioned was it because of the new alliance.
Shürhozelie’s recent “vitriolic” utterance during an election rally wherein he alleged that many Christians had suffered under the BJP government was a classic example of political dementia, the party added. In the same rally, the NPF president also criticised the NDPP-BJP alliance and called upon the people to “protect the Christian faith, culture and identity at any cost,” it pointed out.
Mentioning that much had been said and written to dispel “concocted and unconfirmed” reports, the State BJP stated that no court had found BJP workers involved in any act against the Christian faith till date. It was only some fanatic groups and fringe elements who were indulging in blasphemous acts and blaming BJP for their own vested interests, the party clarified.
“A tall regional leader of his stature blindly pointing fingers at BJP for others’ misdeeds without substantial evidence is belittling the Nagas in general and NPF in particular,” the release added. Emphasising that it was equally committed to protecting Christian faith, culture and identity of Nagas, BJP said it disagreed with the NPF president’s observation that the party was not trying to set its foot in Nagaland through its alliance partner.
The party had already firmly planted its feet in Nagaland solely to bring development and good governance and not for any other reason or ideology, the release concluded.