The Nagaland PCC on Saturday appealed to all like-minded political parties and organisations to support Congress nominee and former chief minister K.L. Chishi for the Lok Sabha elections in the state.
In a statement, Nagaland PCC president K. Therie said Chishi was chosen as the Congress candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland after wide consultations to accommodate views of like-minded parties and groups.
The AICC had on Friday night announced Chishi’s name as its candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state and that of Longkumer for the byelection to Aonglenden Assembly constituency.
The Lok Sabha election and the Assembly bypoll will be held simultaneously on April 11.
Calling Chishi “a matured, seasoned and tested statesman”, the PCC hoped that he would get support from all.
Therie said the Congress had earlier appealed to like-minded political parties for their support based on common stand on issues such as secularism, opposition to the citizenship (amendment) bill and an early political solution to the Naga issue.
“We hope they continue to stand by the political objectives they have made before the people of Nagaland and the nation,” the statement said.
Chishi, a former Congress strongman, rejoined the party on Thursday. He had joined the BJP before the 2018 Assembly elections and contested on a BJP ticket from Atoizu Assembly constituency unsuccessfully. He resigned from the BJP on March 7.
The ruling People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) on Thursday issued ticket to its consensus candidates Tokheho Yepthomi, a sitting Lok Sabha MP, for the Lok Sabha seat and Sharingain Longkumer for the byelection to the Aonglenden Assembly constituency.
Both Yepthomi and Longkumer are from the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the PDA’s major partner.
The Opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) is yet to announce its candidates for the Lok Sabha seat and the byelection. The NPF has 26 MLAs in the 60-member Nagaland Assembly.
NPF sources said the party could decide candidates’ names by Monday.
