Late Vamuzo used a simple formula - 'Divide Congress and rule'
New Delhi
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has attained a self-styled near perfection stage -- something another regionalist doyen Late Vamuzo used to mock.
Of course, Vamuzo's target used to be the Congress leaders - chiefly S C Jamir. He also used to refer to leaders such as Hokishe Sema, I K Sema and Shikiho Sema.
Often Vamuzo would use likes of Chubatemjen Ao or K V Keditsu to target the Congress party. Chubatemjen's one-liner that made waves once -- "My leader Vamuzo's policy is clear and very simple; Divide Congress and rule".
regionalist Vamuzo
In 1989, Chubatemjen Ao was elected on Congress ticket and later became a very core regionalist.
Chubatemjen and Rio were the only "two MLAs" in the Vamuzo camp after 15 legislators were disqualified by Vamuzo's brother-in-law Speaker Mr Thenucho.
Apparently, Rio has learnt something from the experience those days when he used to hate to call himself 'chairman of NIDC'.
Chubatemjen would make it worse. "Today our Chief Minister met all his party NPC MLAs". The reference was just two of them - Rio and himself.
Those were nightmarish days for Rio and he would often scream to Vamuzo - "You can't frame me like this". That was real display of a northern Angami spirit.
Vamuzo's dinner parties hosted for a few MLAs and journos had many such anecdotes.
Table is turned now and some shoes though old and stinking can be still worked and reworked.
Rio is now using the old and tested 'Vamuzo formula'.
A key BJP leader summed up the Nagaland drama very well. "It is also the era of hospitality. In Delhi, Naga hospitality is quite famous. There will always be a BJP face to speak on issues like ENPO. The more funny they are; they will come from the BJP stable".
Chingwang Konyak as the NDPP chief also enjoys the drama. A few years back, he gave the example of Maharashtra politics and said, "When Raj Thackeray said something funny everyone was blaming Sharad Pawar. But if Raj is obliging the senior leader; why should Pawar say I don't want your service".
Smart Netas; talk smartly. The other day Mr Temjen Imna Along spoke at length on ENPO issue and also on peace talks. Both these are not his subjects as a designated minister.
But often the smartness ends somewhere. The buffoonery replaces the normal wisecracks.
Hence you have the 'hospitality industry' running pretty well. So the Nagaland Congress will waste no time to target their own former president K Therie. But will maintain silence on two BJP ministers who by circumstances have been pushed against the wall.
This is one side of the story. And on the other front; a BJP Minister says, new interlocutor means "a strong leader to be an interlocutor so as as to provide a stronger platform for early resolution".
Hence, the wise team's inference is prizewinning theory - Amit Shah and his handpicked babu A K Mishra are not strong enough. Mishra comes from the background of Intelligence Bureau training and upbringing.
Did he handle such wise theories earlier ?
Meanwhile, where is Rahul Gandhi ? Didn't he say only Amit Shah and Modi are two powerful people in the NDA?
Look who is questioning that wise theory.
But why is rest of Nagaland silent. Silent is golden or Bolero - whatever that means !!
Can India afford a very strong Prime Minister in Narendra Modi and very "BJP friendly" Nagaland unit of Congress party under Supongmeren Jamir and such a weak or even the weakest Ministry of Home Affairs?
If these are jokes; let us call them so and enjoy the drama.
Some years back, the American spy masters CIA had failed to prevent the Vajpayee government from conducting the nuke tests.
Western analysts later lamented - the test revealed a failure of espionage, a failure to even read photographs and a failure to comprehend failures.
In 2024, New Delhi should not go into such a lazy mode where there is a metronomic swing from hope to disappointment. The failure to comprehend failures is a sin.
It is time the centre should seek a detailed report from Governor La Ganesan and of course also from various agencies and the CM Rio himself -- why such a consultative meeting was necessary at all on Sept 12.
'Mocambo khush hua' is more than a mere metaphor -- like it or not. There is a scene in the film 'Mr India'. The bad man's sycophants jump into acid full tank by screaming 'Hail Mocambo'.
In the film, replacements of sycophants were easy. In political sense, Rio has "added spare tyres" in the the NCP and LJP (Ram Vilas) club. The imaginative ministry expansion is his master card as of now.
ends
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