GUWAHATI: Four months since the Naga People's Front (NPF) supremo Shurhozelie Liezietsu took over as Nagaland chief minister, his seat is no longer secure.
It was reported that since the small hours of Saturday, 30 of his party's 47 MLAs were camping at a resort in the Kaziranga area in Assam, to plot Liezietsu’s downfall and the return of former chief minister T R Zeliang.
Liezietsu is gearing up to contest a byelection on July 29. He was appointed following Zeliang's resignation in February. However, as he is not an elected member of the Assembly, he has to win the July 29 byelection to be able to continue in office.
A source close to the development said, it is the game plan of Lok Sabha MP Neiphiu Rio, also a former chief minister. Rio and Zeliang were bitter rivals, but they have patched up, he said. Rio was for long cornered in the party after being accused of anti-party activities.
“Some 30 ministers and MLAs checked in at around 3 am today (Saturday). There are also others. They have booked around 30 rooms,” a staffer of the resort Borgos in Kaziranga told New Indian Express.
Asked if Rio and Zeliang were there, he refused to confirm, saying, “I cannot share further details.”
Zeliang was forced to resign in February as chief minister of Nagaland following protests by tribal organisations against his decision to allow a quota for women in civic elections.
Ironically, it was in the same resort where a group of NPF MLAs had met in February and took a decision against his continuance in office.