Correspondent
SHILLONG, JUL 18: National People’s Party (NPP) on Saturday expressed concern over what it described as the repeated targeting of its elected representatives by Naga People’s Front (NPF) in Nagaland.
In a statement, NPP national working president and Rajya Sabha MP James Sangma said the recent defection of two NPP municipal councillors in Kohima, following the earlier defection of two councillors in Dimapur, indicated a deliberate pattern rather than isolated incidents. Sangma said democratic politics should be guided by ideology, public service and the people’s mandate, not by weakening rival parties through defections.
He alleged that reports received by the party suggested councillors were pressured to switch allegiance through threats that development funds and government schemes would be withheld if they did not join the ruling party. “If such allegations are true, they raise serious concerns about the misuse of political influence and undermine the democratic principle that development belongs to the people and should never be used as an instrument of political coercion,” he said.
Sangma noted that NPP has traditionally maintained cordial ties with regional and national parties, including the NPF, and termed the alleged targeting of a partner party’s elected representatives as unfortunate. He said NPP was reviewing developments in Nagaland and would strengthen its grassroots organisation, adding that the NPP remained committed to politics based on credibility, accountability and public service.