Discontentment is brewing in the Bharatiya Janata Party in Nagaland after adjoining Manipur.
Ten organisational district presidents have written to the party’s central leadership seeking removal of the ‘dictatorial’ State unit president Temjen Imna Along Longkumer. The June 24 letter was addressed to national general secretary Ajay Jamwal with a copy to senior party leader Ram Madhav, who is in charge of the northeastern States and Nagaland’s Deputy Chief Minister Y. Patton.
Mr. Longkumer is also a Minister in the Neiphiu Rio-led People’s Democratic Alliance where the BJP is the minor partner of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party.
The development almost coincided with the rumblings in the Manipur unit with several MLAs reportedly displeased by Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren’s ‘autocratic’ style of functioning. Three of them had also quit the party in protest.
The complaint against Mr. Longkumer was signed by the presidents of the Wokha, Kiphire, Phek, Kohima, Peren, Mon, Tuensang, Noklak and Aboi organisational districts and the Zunheboto district head.
They resented the ‘unceremonious’ removal of the Phek district president “who was officially elected as per the party constitution conducted by the State returning officer”. He was removed on June 23 without any valid reason, they said.
Four more district presidents were in the firing line, they said.
“There is no transparency in his [Mr. Longkumer’s] financial management,” they said, demanding immediate implementation of the one-man-one-post policy in Nagaland like other States.
Mr. Longkumer could not be contacted for his views.
