Close on the heels of the October – fracas that exposed a virtual spilt within the state Congress organisation, party veterans- ex-NPCC president and AICC member K.V.Pusa; Joshua Sumi, AICC member; Lampha Konyak AICC member; Tarie Zeliang AICC member and Asu Keyho AICC member, have hit out at newly appointed NPCC president K.Therie, by terming his recent statements as “jumbled with self-contradiction, fabrication” and deserving a “befitting response.”
In their joint statement, the Congress leaders hit out at Therie by describing him as a one with a record of expulsions from the INC (2002) and NPF (2005) and therefore wondered what could be expected from a “could-be-BJP turned PCC president” than his “unbelievable swearing in” that he had never spoken of a wish to join the BJP.
They said Therie’s futile attempt to lure a senior Congress leader (as testified) to “join BJP in March 2015, before Rio does” spoke volumes about “his last moment shift of inclination from BJP to grasp the sudden offer of PCC president”. Congress veterans said that of late, Therie assumed has himself as “a modern-day champion of India’s secularism” .However they said it was not on this issue that he had once attacked the AICC president of being “anti-Naga, anti-solution” and neither was it on this issue that he (Therie) was expelled from the NPF.
Responding to Therie’s stand against Congress legislators being in the DAN where the ‘communal’ BJP was also a part of; the Congress veterans asked Therie to clarify on the “disputed direction given before and after trust vote” by the AICC in-charge Nagaland to support Rio when the BJP MLAs and party officials were still with Rio. They also demanded explanation from Therie on whether he endorsed the directive to support Rio or to welcome Rio to the party. They also demanded to know why the AICC secretary “despite direction given, had refused to become a co-petitioner of the Disqualification petition” (against the eight Congress legislators).
They said that Therie,as the sole petitioners for disqualification, should clarify as to why he had intentionally misled party rank and file into believing till date, that the eight Congress legislators had submitted a letter to the Speaker for merger with NPF.
They cited the RTI reply from the Addl. Secretary & PIO Nagaland Legislative Assembly dated September 3, 2015 had categorically stated that no document was received by the NLA secretariat on the purported merger.