Women candidates will create history in Nagaland, says Assam CM Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said three women will be in the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly, for the first time in the history of the state, expressing confidence that Hekani Jakhalu (NDPP), Salhoutuonuo Kruse (NDPP) and Kahuli Chishi (BJP) will win the election.

He made this statement during the campaign rally of NDPP candidate Hekani Jakhalu for Dimapur-III AC at Kachari Community Ground in Darogajan.

‘Looking at the supporters here today, it is 100% confirmed that Jakhalu will win,’ he proclaimed, adding that he witnessed a similar scene at 32 Atoizu and 8 Western Angami constituencies, where Chishi and Kruse are contesting, while campaigning with Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.

The credit goes to the leadership of Rio, he said.

Sarma appealed to the gathering to vote for Jakhalu to create a history for the state of Nagaland, adding that he was impressed by her works.

If I have the power, I would invite her to contest in Assam. Dimapur-III AC is very fortunate as she will work for the empowerment of women, youth, and above all transform this constituency as a model constituency in the days to come, he said.

‘LJP is not a friend of BJP’

On reports of LJP (RV) workers claiming that their candidates will join the state government if elected, Sarma clarified that, “LJP is not a friend of BJP” and the same applies to RPI, NCP and other parties. He said the saffron party has no friend other than NDPP in Nagaland.

While urging the gathering not to believe in rumours, he apprised the BJP candidates that the party has made a public commitment to support only Rio as the Chief Minister of the state after the election.

BJP national President JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah had come to Nagaland for election campaign, while Prime Minister is set to address a joint rally of NDPP-BJP in Dimapur on Friday, he informed, terming it as a rare occasion.

Modi will come to campaign for NDPP-BJP and also for Rio as the chief minister of Nagaland, therefore there should be no confusion, he added.

Maintaining that BJP values friendship, he said Rio is the oldest ally of the party and has never gone against it in any occasion, from the days of Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Modi. So, BJP’s support for NDPP with Rio as the leader is 100%, he said.

No border issues

The Assam chief minister said that when all the north-eastern states move forward together, only then will the region become strong.

To make Nagaland strong, Naga political issue should be solve as early as possible, he said adding that it is not a law and order issue but a political problem, and so it has to be resolved by respecting the unique history and identity of Naga people.

He said that, with Rio as the chief minister of Nagaland, it would be able to resolve Naga political issue at the earliest. When north-eastern states are under NDA and NEDA, there won’t be border issues, and even if there is any, he said they will try to resolve amicably.

Sarma said that all the north-eastern states need to co-operate against various things, including drugs which is the biggest enemy of youth. Unless Assam, Nagaland and Manipur act together, the menace can’t be controlled, and so NDA should be in power in entire Northeast, he continued.

If the BJP comes back to power, the party will do lot of transformational change in Nagaland including establishment of a new sports university, complete foothill road ‘immediately’ and introduce several schemes for employment of youth, especially women, he stated.

Border issue to be solved out of court, says Rio

Also speaking at the election rally of Jakhalu, NDPP candidate from 3 Dimapur-III AC, Neiphiu Rio said that Nagaland and Assam will not take the border dispute to court but go for outside court settlement in an ‘indigenous way’, banking on the trust and friendship the two states share.

He informed that he and his Assamese counterpart had made a decision on sharing royalty between the two states of oil regarding oil exploration and drilling in the disputed areas; that the states will open an escrow account and keep the royalty amount, which will be shared after the settlement.

Nalin Kohli, spokesperson of BJP, said that the vision of the government is to bring a sports university to Nagaland so that the state can bring laurels to the country. He also rubbished the claims made by some candidates that they will be part of the NDPP-BJP government as their parties are BJP’s at the Centre, saying that the pre-poll alliance will not take in any other parties in the state.

Jakhalu appeals for vote

Addressing to the people of her constituency, Hekani Jakhalu said she is contesting this election with main focus on four areas – youth, women empowerment, to make Dimapur-III a model constituency and stand for the minority community.

Speaking about YouthNet, the NGO she stated in 2005, she said she had given her best to help youths of Nagaland stand on their own feet and earn their living but it is very limited in scope, so she decided to contest the election to speak for the youth in the state Assembly.

She lauded Himanta, saying that he is not only the chief minister of Assam but also a tall and visionary leader of the Northeast. She also said the chief minister of Nagaland had already campaigned twice for her, which shows how much he cares for Dimapur-III constituency.

Furthermore, she appealed to the gathering to vote for her to fulfill their common vision and dream.

Also read: Fates of north-eastern states are interlinked, says Assam CM Himanta

An honour to have Shri @himantabiswa Ji and Shri @NalinSKohli Ji in the campaign rally of @NDPPofficial candidate Mrs. @Hekani Jakhalu. Grateful for encouraging us with their presence. I request the constituents to support women empowerment in politics and vote for the candidate pic.twitter.com/AYn27vuWPS

— Neiphiu Rio (@Neiphiu_Rio) February 23, 2023

Himanta Himanta Himanta Himanta Himanta