On Friday, the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) has issued an ultimatum to the Union government. It said it would “resume the violent armed resistance against India” if the Centre did not “honour” the 2015 Framework Agreement signed by the two parties to resolve the Naga political problem.

In a five-page statement signed by its general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, the insurgent group, which first signed a ceasefire with the Indian government in 1997, said “we rule out peaceful means against the ignominious betrayal of the letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015”.

This comes after a few rounds of talks between NSCN (IM) leaders – but not 90-year-old Muivah himself – and the Centre’s interlocutor A.K. Mishra in Delhi last month. It also comes at a time when the central government is also holding parallel talks with Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs), an umbrella body of seven Naga organisations excluding the NSCN (IM).

Last week, the NNPGs urged the Centre to finalise a Naga accord this year itself based on a separate “Agreed Position” signed with them in 2017.

An apparent impasse over the question of a separate Naga flag and constitution is one of the sticking points in the negotiation between the NSCN I(M) and Union Government. Although issuing his ultimatum, Muivah suggested that he was still leaving the window open, proposing “third party intervention” as a final step.

With the insurgency being one of the oldest in the country, the developments on this will be closely tracked in the coming days by the Centre and security establishment.

In context: The talks seek to settle disputes that date back to colonial rule. The Nagas are not a single tribe, but an ethnic community that comprises several tribes who live in the state of Nagaland and its neighbourhood. One key demand of Naga groups has been a Greater Nagalim that would cover not only the state of Nagaland but parts of neighbouring states, and even of Myanmar.

The British had annexed Assam in 1826, in which they subsequently created the Naga Hills district and went on to extend its boundaries. The assertion of Naga nationalism, which began during British rule, has continued after Independence, and even after Nagaland became a state. Along the way, the unresolved issues gave rise to decades of insurgency that claimed thousands of lives, including of civilians.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be in Jharkhand Saturday to address meetings in Dhanbad and Jamshedpur ahead of the elections in the state.

His sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi will campaign in the Wayanad Lok Sabha from where she is making her political debut.

The seat, scheduled for the bypoll on November 13, was vacated by Rahul as he chose to retain his another parliamentary constituency, Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh.

Priyanka’s campaign is centred on small meetings and the “Gandhis’ personal touch”. In her canvassing, she is mainly raising various local issues — such as farmers’ problems or rehabilitation of the Wayanad landslides’ victims — mixing them with national ones.

Some Congress leaders deputed in Wayanad for managing Pryanka’s campaign told The Indian Express that her “campaign style is very local”.

Priyanka is pitted against the CPI’s Sathyan Mokeri and BJP candidate Navya Haridas, who is a local councillor and has a long association with the Sangh Parivar.

The constituency has about 43% Muslims, 13% Christians, 10% tribals, and 7% Dalits. It is considered to be among the safest Lok Sabha seats for the Congress in the country. This is one of the reasons why Rahul chose it in the 2019 elections when he was facing a stiff challenge in Amethi from the BJP’s Smriti Irani. Rahul had lost the seat to Irani in 2019, but had won from Wayanad by defeating the CPI candidate by 4.32 lakh votes. In this year’s Lok Sabha polls, he retained Wayanad but his winning margin slided to 3.64 lakh votes.