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| S.C. Jamir being felicitated during the function in Kohima on Tuesday. Telegraph picture |
Kohima, March 12: The governor-designate of Odisha, S.C. Jamir, said the Congress suffered the worst debacle in Nagaland in the 2013 Assembly election as people perceived that there were two faces of the party in the state.
Addressing party functionaries at Congress Bhavan here on the occasion of his felicitation programme organised by the Nagaland PCC, he added the state government was not allowed to function according to the Constitution by “both seen and unseen forces” that were holding the keys.
“These diabolical forces acquired power and strength through clever and calculated exploitation of the whole game of election. The forces made the elected government subservient to them. In other words, the government of Nagaland is being run through remote control and the elected government is made to play only second fiddle,” Jamir said.
He fell short of naming Naga militant groups who were active in the election process through the power of guns. He said even before candidates were elected, their career was already placed “at the pleasure of those who function outside the Constitution”.
“You cannot expect an effective and transparent administration because the keys are in the hands of someone else. This is the kind of governance in Nagaland. But people are afraid to speak out, including the political parties,” Jamir said.
He said the Congress must infuse new blood and young and capable persons to lead the party. “There should be only one genuine Congress face to show the people,” he added.
The veteran Congress leader attributed the election debacle to rift in the party. He urged party functionaries to introspect on what went wrong in the party instead of trying to find fault with each other.
Jamir said the electoral defeat had given a “golden” opportunity to the Congress party to analyse the nitty-gritty of the party.
The former chief minister said the Congress’s identity and its face were transparent and there was no difficulty in identifying the party by the people and that the functionaries were true to their ideology and policy. But he regretted that over the years because of opportunism, the party strayed from its basic policy and ideology.
“This, according to me, is one of the causes which have damaged the image of the party,” Jamir said.
He also spoke about the 60-year-old Naga political problem. “It is in a terrible mess,” he said.
The mess would continue, he added, until the people were given opportunity to express their views on the kind of political arrangement that would be honourable.
He said the party would see better days ahead if the members stood united and upheld its policies and ideology. “Don’t lose heart because of the election debacle. This is only a game,” he said.
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