Naga People's Front

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Party flag of the Naga Peoples' Front

The Naga People's Front (" Naga People's Front ", NPF ), formerly Nagaland People's Front , is a regional party in the northeastern Indian states of Nagaland and Manipur .

Political goals

The Naga People's Front sees itself as representing the interests of the Naga people who settle in the state of Nagaland and parts of Manipur. The party's motto is fide, non armis ( Latin “by conviction, not by armed force” ) and accordingly the party avowedly wants to achieve its goals in a non-violent way and rejects political violence. She is expressly committed to the Indian constitution as well as to the "principles of socialism, secularism and democracy and the unity of India". The aim of the party is to preserve the traditional Naga culture within the framework of an Indian federal state that should encompass all the contiguous areas inhabited by Naga. All ethnic groups traditionally resident in Nagaland ("... who are indigenous inhabitants of the State ...") should have equal rights.

The party is committed to the fight against corruption and for economic development, especially in rural areas in Nagaland. According to the party program of 2002, only residents of Nagaland could become party members.

Party history

The party emerged in October 2002 from the Nagaland People's Council (NPC). The NPC's status as a political party was revoked in 1998 after the NPC boycotted the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. On March 22, 2004, the smaller Nagaland Democratic Party , founded in 1999, disbanded and merged with the NPF.

After the NPF originally limited its activities to Nagaland, it has been expanding its radius of action to the Naga areas in the neighboring state of Manipur for several years. To make this claim clear, the party renamed itself in 2009 from Nagaland People's Front to Naga People's Front . On May 28, 2011, an offshoot of the NPF was founded in Manipur. In the January 2012 elections to the Manipur Parliament, the NPF won 4 parliamentary seats. In September 2012 the NPF was recognized by the Election Commission of India as a 'federal party' also in Manipur.

Since 2003, the NPF has formed a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Nagaland government and a member of the National Democratic Alliance coalition . However, this did not prevent them from supporting the candidate of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Pranab Mukherjee in the Indian presidential election on July 19, 2012 , who also won the election. In the 2009 elections to the all-India parliament , the NPF won the one seat in parliament that Nagaland is entitled to in the Lok Sabha .

Management disputes after 2014

In the all-Indian parliamentary elections in 2014 , the NPF chairman Neiphiu Rio was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha. He therefore gave up his previous position as Chief Minister to his party colleague TR Zeliang . Rio had probably raised hopes for a ministerial position in the new government under Narendra Modi . However, these expectations were not fulfilled and Rio made preparations to return to Nagaland from Delhi. However, Zeliang was not ready to resign as Chief Minister. On July 19, 2017, Zeliang had to resign as Chief Minister due to heated disputes over the introduction of a women's quota in Nagaland elections. His successor as chief minister was Shurhozelie Liezietsu , who was already 81 years old . A little later, Zeliang gathered his supporters and was able to unite a majority of the MPs in Nagaland's parliament, so that he again served as Chief Minister from July 19, 2017. In the face of the turmoil, dissatisfied NPF supporters, who were close to the former Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, founded a new party in May 2017 under the name Democratic Progressive Party (later the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party , NDPP). To prevent a political comeback for Rio, which was still in Delhi, Zeliang and Liezietsu settled their disputes. Rio left the NPF as expected and became the NDPP's top candidate in the parliamentary elections in Nagaland on February 27, 2018. In this election, the NPF lost its previous absolute mandate majority and Neiphiu Rio formed a coalition government with the BJP and other parties as the new Chief Minister. Since then, the NPF has been in opposition in Nagaland's parliament. The Lok Sabha mandate was also lost in the 2018 by-election to the NDPP, which was able to maintain it in the 2019 all- India election . In return, the NPF won a constituency mandate in the neighboring state of Manipur for the first time in this election.

Annoyed by the BJP's support for the NDPP government, the NPF decided on May 18, 2019 to end its 2017 coalition with the BJP in Manipur.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c party program 2002 ( PDF ), Article I.
  2. ↑ a b Party program 2002, Article II
  3. ^ Party program 2002, Article VIII
  4. ^ About Nagaland people's front (NPF). elections.in, accessed April 17, 2014 .
  5. ↑ EC derecognises Nagaland People's Council. expressindia.indianexpress.com, September 21, 1998, accessed April 17, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Rio party to old name. The Telegraph, July 28, 2009, accessed May 25, 2014 .
  7. ^ Naga People's Front and Nagas of South Nagalim. December 12, 2011, accessed on April 17, 2014 (English, presentation from the point of view of the vice-chairman of the youth organization of the NPF in Manipur).
  8. ^ Naga People's Front gets Election Commission recognition. The Times of India, September 8, 2012, accessed April 17, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Arunabh Saikia: Nagaland has a new chief minister. But its ruling party and Assembly have been plunged into chaos. scroll.in, July 26, 2017, accessed on June 23, 2019 (English).
  10. ^ Neiphiu Rio appointed chief minister of Nagaland, asked to prove majority. The Indian Wire, March 8, 2018, accessed March 15, 2018 .
  11. ^ Bye Election Results. Indian Electoral Commission, accessed June 8, 2019 .
  12. ↑ NPF to withdraw support from BJP-led govt in Manipur. indiatoday.in, May 18, 2019, accessed on June 23, 2019 .