GUWAHATI: The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) has refuted the claim of the Opposition Naga Peoples’ Front that the process to set up the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) was initiated by the DAN-III government under the leadership of the then chief minister, T.R Zeliang in 2017.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, NDPP termed the NPF’s claim as “absurd” alleging that the “then government paid only lip service and did nothing to bring it to fruition like the present (People’s Democratic Alliance) government did for the welfare of the qualified and deserving youths of the state”
It may be mentioned that the Neiphiu Rio government had recently approved setting up of the NSSB.
“The NDPP stands for transparency and meritocracy and the government’s decision to institute the SSB is towards the commitment of realising these aspirations,” it stated.
The NPF had recently accused the PDA government of being “in a confused state of mind and not working for welfare of the people,” and also reiterated its demand for the ruling coalition to step down on moral ground.
“The repeated demand of the NPF for the PDA government to step down in recent times is reminiscent of a defective record player repeating a phrase nauseatingly, and is bereft of logic and legality,” the NDPP stated.
“By resorting to petty paper wars, dragging in the ruling dispensation on non-issues and asking for the current dispensation to step down on their whims and fancies only proves that the oldest regional party has lost direction and the political fortitude it once had in the years gone by,” it added.
Further taking a dig at the Opposition, the ruling party stated, “Perhaps the Opposition feels that the present PDA government is like the DAN-III government wherein the NPF took it upon itself to overthrow their own government and the chief minister on their whims and fancies, not once but twice! The NPF should first look at their past before deciding to point fingers at others.”