The core committee of the Naga Tribal Hoho and Civil Organisations said the BJP should clarify its stand after the party backed out of the joint declaration as it has created confusion in the state.
Representatives of 11 political parties, including the Naga People's Front, the BJP and the Congress, had decided on Monday to not contest the February 27 elections, agreeing to the demand of tribal bodies and civil society groups to resolve the Naga political problem first.
The BJP has suspended its state executive council member Kheto Semaparty, who had signed the joint declaration.
"The BJP cannot speak with forked tongue when even after signing the joint declaration, it has put in place a game plan to scuttle the voice of solution to Naga problem before the ensuing election", core committee convener Theja Therieh and co-convener David Sangtam said in a statement here last night.
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They said: "The party suspended its member for signing the historic declaration when he was authorised by none other than the state BJP president to sign on behalf of the party," and added, "This treacherous act will not go unchallenged".
"We had authorised two party leaders to attend the meeting but had also said that if there is anything regarding the elections, the party's national leaders should be consulted," he said.
Accusing the BJP of "playing a dirty game" to grab political power at the expense of Naga aspirations, they said it was exemplified by their slogan "Election for Solution".
The core committee also wondered whether the state BJP members were Nagas first or their allegiance was to the party high command, rather than finding a solution to the Naga problem.
The core committee also demanded that the state BJP should revoke the suspension of their state executive member Kheto Sema who had signed the joint declaration.
The statement said that unless the state BJP accedes to this demand, the core committee as per its January 29 resolution shall take necessary steps and the state BJP would be solely responsible for any aggravation of the situation in the state.
"Such an act of collective sacrifice will definitely send a strong message to the central government that the Nagas desire a solution at the earliest," the core committee said.
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