The Ao Senden on Monday slammed Nagaland’s State Election Commission for calling for Urban Local Body election despite against the wishes of the people of the state and asserted that the election will not be ‘allowed in Ao region’.

In a press release, the Senden stated that it ‘rejects the imperious and domineering act’ of the commission’s 9 March 2023 notification which it said was ‘dictatorial in nature’ and ‘unacceptable’.

State Election Commissioner had earlier 9 March announced the schedule of programme for the ULB election in the state that mentioned that the election would be conducted on 16 May 2023.

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The Ao Senden said that it firmly stands by the memorandum which it had submitted to the government of Nagaland on 30 May 2017 where it demanded either replacing Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 with a new Act, that is ‘acceptable and applicable’ and ‘in consonance with the Naga customs and usages’ or deleting ‘inappropriate sections of the law’ from NMA 2021.

The body further said that ‘in order to protect and preserve the constitutional rights of the Naga people as enshrined in the Constitution of India’, no election will be allowed in the Ao region unless the NMA is amended. It also added that if the election is ‘forced upon the people in its current form’, the Senden will bar every Ao citizen from participating ‘to safeguard the greater interest and rights of the Naga people.’

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