NDPP youth body reacts to NPF leaders’ statements

NDPP Youth Organisation (NDPPYO) has taken strong exception to the statements made by senior NPF leaders, including its president, secretary general and Legislature Party leader, claiming that the candidates who had contested from their party were real Nagas.
In a communiqué, the youth wing of the ruling party termed the statements an insult and demeaning to every candidate who had contested in the recent Assembly elections. Such attitude also demeans the electorates and all the citizens of the State.
“The NPF’s absurd claim that it is the only regional party in Nagaland explains the mentality of its leadership. They seem to be living in their own time capsule without realising that there has been generational changes and the world has moved on.
They are obviously living in past glory and unable to accept the realities of the present times and the current generation.
It is a universal truth that nothing stays the same and change is the only permanent assurance with time,” the communiqué stated. The youth organisation asserted that NDPP had emerged as the only viable regional political party in Nagaland today, as reflected in the Naga people’s mandate.
Mentioning that since 2018 the NDPP had won every election with bigger margins, it said the electoral results were the voice of the people.
NDPPYO asked NPF to realise where it stood as it had contested only a handful of seats and won in only two during the recent Assembly elections.
It said the party had given up even before the polls as it had no chance of forming the government since it had no possibility of reaching a majority on its own, and nor did it have any alliance with any political party.
According to the youth wing, the manner in which NPF had written off the mandate of the people was an insult to the democratic process and a disrespect to every member of Nagaland’s electorate, including those who had voted for the NPF.
It declared that Nagas were not purchasable commodities and claimed that due to the efforts of the present leadership, Nagaland continued to emerge as unique State duly recognised at the national and international levels.
It further reminded the NPF that despite having several MLAs it had failed to even field a single candidate for the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, but rather extended support to the Congress candidate even though it had a history of opposing the Congress and its policies for decades.
Rejecting the NPF president’s claim that a party that had an alliance with a national party was not a regional party, the youth wing asked the NPF why it had withdrawn its candidature and allied with the Congress and extended full support to the latter in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, going to the extent of sharing the platform with Rahul Gandhi.
NDPPYO said it was time for the NPF leadership to do deep introspection and question themselves why they had been rejected by the Naga people, whether they had betrayed the confidence which the people had once reposed on them and whether they had let down the high ideals of their past leaders.
Perhaps it was time for them to look inwards, instead of pointing fingers at others. For, leadership came with responsibilities and ultimately leaders were answerable to the people, the communiqué pointed out.