Kohima, Feb. 19: Opposition Congress in Nagaland has been trying to clinch a deal with former chief minister K.L. Chishi?s party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
State Congress president and former chief minister S.C. Jamir said talks were on to form a tie-up with Chishi?s Nationalist Democratic Party (NDM), a partner in the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN). The Congress needs succour badly in its former stronghold.
?We will surely have an alliance with secular and like-minded parties,? Chishi told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi today. Chishi has been one of the well-known politicians from the state whose defeat by a relative Congress greenhorn last year in the Assembly poll shocked many.
The Congress camp in the state has been welcoming the move to rope in Chishi amid other setbacks for the party. Congress general secretary Shilu Sangtam and the state National Students Union of India (NSUI) president Chuba Yimchunger joined the Nagaland People?s Front (NPF) yesterday. Chief minister Neiphiu Rio?s NPF leads the DAN coalition government, which includes the BJP. A former president of the NSUI had also joined the NPF recently.
Chishi, a lawyer-politician, is believed to wield considerable clout in the Sema Naga-dominated Zunheboto district. Zunheboto has been Congress bastion for years until last year when the NPF swept the polls. Chishi was defeated last year in his Atoiz? constituency by Doshehe, a Congress MLA. The NPF candidate had secured the second place while Chishi was relegated to the third.
The Congress, with only 16 MLAs left in its fold, is trying to find a saviour in Chishi.