DIMAPUR, May 17 - The Naga People�s Front (NPF) has accused Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio of taking the Naga people for a ride on the issue of COVID-19.
The NPF in a press release said that Rio during a meeting with various civil society organisations here on Wednesday delved mainly on issues which have nothing to do with the pandemic.
The party said Rio must have mistaken the said meeting for a budget session of the Assembly as he started his address with the State�s deficit figures, which is absurd and holds no relevance.
The NPF said he must have brought the deficit issue in the meeting out of guilty conscience as his tenure started in 2003 with zero deficit after the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government magnanimously gave a one-time grant to the State to wipe off negative deficit of the State.
�Now, for him to blame the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland-III government for the huge deficit which he had incurred during his tenure of 11 years at the helm makes for a good comedy show,� the release said.
The party also alleged that Rio�s attempt to tinker with the delimitation process was evident from his address at the meeting. It wondered what delimitation has got to do with this pandemic.
The NPF said Rio also brought up the Naga political issue during the meeting, which is another unrelated issue.
The party said Rio has terribly failed in addressing the issues like bringing back the stranded Nagas and setting up proper quarantine centres, which is an indication of his poor leadership. �Trying to score some political points by engaging in politics in such meetings which was attended by civil society organisations is no more than the real face of Rio,� it said.
The party added that it was unfortunate that the Chief Minister wanted to play politics when the Opposition party and civil organisations have been extending their fullest support in the fight against the virus. The Opposition party alleged that the State Government has no concrete roadmap for managing the COVID-19 pandemic even after elapse of more than 50 days of the nationwide lockdown.
