Nagaland People's Front, popularly called the Naga People's Front or NPF is a regional political party. Its mass base is primarily in the states of Nagaland and Manipur. The NPF operates along the political ideology of Regionalism, abiding by the principles of democracy and fraternity as practised in the state of Nagaland.
The Naga People's Front (NPF) is a regional political party in Nagaland and Manipur, India. It headed the Nagaland government with the Bharatiya Janata Party, as part of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland since 2003. Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu is the president of the party.
The Nagas of South Nagalim have been struggling very hard to achieveNaga Integration under the banner of United Naga Council (UNC). The UNC has launched a series of movements in pursuance of its political demands: (1) Non-cooperation movement against the Manipur Government (2) Boycott of the Manipur District Council election (3) Severance of ties with the Manipur Government and (4) Demand for an Alternative Arrangement outside the purview of Manipur administration. In addition to these, the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) had also initiated a drastic move seeking affiliation of the schools in the Naga areas of Manipur to Nagaland Board.
The Naga people boycotted the first and second general elections in India in 1952 and 1957 for the political problem in Nagaland. But when an Interim Government was installed with the Naga people as counselors, it set the stage ready under the system for the General Election to come. Under the circumstances, organizing a new political party was the only answer to set up the democratic system of allowing everyone to contest in the election and not to go by the resolutions of the Tribal Councils. It is also to be noted that the 16-point memorandum failed to stop bloodshed in Nagaland. Therefore, the political party had to declare a policy to work for a final political settlement of the Indo-Naga political problem.
From 2003 to 2008, the Nagaland People's Front ruled the state in alliance with the BJP in the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN), where it is the main constituent of the coalition. The state was ruled under the able leadership of the NPF's most significant leader Neiphiu Rio. In 2004, the NPF absorbed the Nagaland Democratic Party, one of the significant political outfits in the state. This made the NPF all the more influential in the state. Though the NPF supports the BJP-led NDA in the politics of the state, it has no coalition with either the NDA or the Congress-led UPA at the Centre.
The Election Symbol of the Nagaland People's Front, as approved by the Election Commission of India, is “Cock”. This election symbol is drawn on a tri-coloured flag of the party, which has a blue top strip, followed by a white middle strip and a red bottom strip, all of which are of equal sizes. The cock is a small Indian bird, which is usually famous for being an early-riser, welcoming the morning sun. The party, representing its ideology through the cock symbol, welcomes light and happiness for the people of Nagaland. Its strong motto, by which the party wholly abides, is “fido non armis”, which means “by faith, not by non-violence”. This indicates the passionate commitment of the party towards the cause of the Nagas, at the expense of not killing or physically abusing the innocent lives of the Nagas.
Contact Details and Address
Head-Office Address of NPF - P.R. Hills Junction, Post Box No. 565, Kohima-797001, Nagaland