Rejoinder to NPF from NDPP [04 September 2018]

05th September, 2018 ; Kohima

1) It is unbelievably ironic that the NPF suddenly seems to be grassroots and people centric now that it is no more in power. In the few months that it has been in Opposition, the NPF has, out of frustration and perhaps a sense of repentance, picked up the hypocritical habit of telling the PDA Government and the Hon'ble Chief Minister to do exactly as they (NPF) never bothered to do during the last four years of their infamous tenure at the helm of affairs.

2) The PDA Government is busy focussed on not only providing good governance to the people, but also correcting the mis-governance of the last 4 years of the NPF which never saw any semblance of governance, let alone good governance. In its despair to be noticed, the NPF should not accuse the NDPP of whining particularly when it was the NPF which woke up from its slumber after 13 days to attack the Hon'ble Chief Minister's Independence Day Speech without any valid reasons except desperate attempts to create controversies where none exist.

It is evident that the NPF has not been cured of its narcolepsy which is one of the main reasons that the party was miserably rejected in the General Assembly elections 2018 and the Lok Sabha Bye-Poll 2018. As such, the NPF's compulsive habit of whining is no lesser than its ingrained trait of telling others to do what it could never do when it was in power except sleep over issues.

3) The NPF has once again feigned concern for the people and even the Hon'ble Members of the PDA albeit with a sizeable dose of vicious invectives. The appointment of Members of the PDA needs no further elaboration and the fact that they enjoy no financial or executive power is clear from the start. On the contrary, the NPF is dared to admit the fact that they too appointed party leaders with equivalent ranks of Cabinet Ministers.

4) The fallacy of the NPF is laid bare by its own statement that the NDPP should start focussing on providing roads and helping affected people. The NPF's selective amnesia is once again evident from the fact that the present condition of roads and bridges in Nagaland are at its worst due to the inaction of the NPF Government of the past 4 years as the NPF was in a state of narcolepsy.

The NPF needs to be reminded that even though it is in Opposition, it did nothing for the people in distress. Only after the NDPP on 28th August 2018 asked the NPF to enlighten the people what it has done for those affected by natural calamities in the State, its Leader of Opposition on 31st August 2018 suggested that the Commissioner and Secretary, Nagaland Legislative Assembly may deduct 50,000 each from the salary of the NPF MLAs to donate to the Chief Secretary's Relief Fund. As such, the NPF has no moral authority to tell the Government what to do when all it can do is reluctantly toe the line despite the fact that relief and rehabilitation works are a common concern which needs to be addressed together irrespective of political affiliation.

5) Even as the NPF tries its best to preach to the PDA Government the ethics of good governance which the NPF led DAN Government could never comprehend or follow in the last 4 years, the NDPP is not surprised at the 'do as we never did' attitude of the Opposition which by its own admission, whined uncontrollably to raise a worthless debate which spiralled into a paper war. If the NPF feels that it is sitting in a classroom, then it would do them well not to create such an atmosphere by themselves in the first place.

6) Without a doubt, in a democratic set up, it is the duty of the opposition to outline the areas where the government needs to put in efforts or more attention. However, since the NPF is so proud of its achievement of having an opposition-less government in the last four years of the 12th House, it (NPF) has perhaps forgotten the way a good opposition functions in a democratic system of government!

It is not a matter of pride when the opposition which was at the helm of affairs just a few months back is trying to do right the wrongs they committed during their reign by pointing their tainted fingers at the Hon’ble Chief Minister and the PDA Government. The people are the judge of the matter and it will bode well for the NPF to analyse the matters at hand with a fine toothed comb before accusing the government of the day of the lack of governance or mis-governance which was clearly evident in the last four years of the NPF government.

7) In conclusion, the overzealous nature of the NPF without shedding its redundant and regressive outlook yet striving to remain relevant in the face of progressive governance has only made the NPF party more irrelevant as the debate which it terms as "worthless" was started by none other than the publicity-crazy NPF party itself. The NPF should first come clean on the educational qualification of its leader Mr. TR Zeliang who misled the entire country by repeatedly lying on affidavit that he was a graduate instead of trying to find fault with others. Until and unless the NPF comes clean on the fake educational declaration of its “chief minister in waiting”, it has no moral authority to point fingers at others.

(Issued by NDPP Media & Communication Committee)