Kohima Bureau
Kohima, Feb. 8 (EMN): With 19 days left before Nagaland goes to the assembly polls, the Nagaland unit of the Janata Dal (United) released its manifesto on Feb. 8 during a press conference held at Hotel Cimorb in Kohima.
JD(U) National General Secretary Afaque A Khan, National Executive Member Aneel Hedge, JD (U) Nagaland state unit President Sechuthung Lotha, and JD (U) state executive member Kitoho S Rotokha attended the programme.
It may be mentioned that the JD (U), a centre-left Indian political party, is currently led by its national president Nitish Kumar, who is also the chief minister of Bihar.
Speaking at the function, Sechuthung Lotha, also known as NSN Lotha, said that the party was contesting the assembly elections with the theme “development with justice.” According to the manifesto, the JD (U) will to focus on the Indo-Naga political issue; education, rural development, youth and employment; influx of foreigners; road development, health sector and repealing of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the Northeast.
On the Naga political issue, the JD (U) said it would continue to pursue an honourable solution to the Naga issue at the earliest. “The party shall always honour the footsteps of its founding father Jayaprakash Narayan and his love for the Naga people,” the manifesto read.
While stating that the AFSPA had become a tool for state abuse, oppression and discrimination which has led to human rights violation in the north eastern states, especially in Nagaland, the JD(U) affirmed to repeal the AFSPA from the NE region.
Lotha said that the party will ensure that the problem of illegal foreigners, especially from Bangladesh, is curbed and suppressed by judiciously implementing provisions of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873 (BEFR) and other such relevant acts in totality.
Focusing on education, the party has declared constituting an education commission to review existing education policies. The party has set its vision on establishing colleges in all the additional deputy commissioner headquarters and higher secondary schools in all subdivision officer headquarters. It assured to take up infrastructural development of all existing government schools, besides construction of new ones.
Also, the party has a vision to provide insurance schemes for students studying outside the state in cases such as acute sickness or issues involving transportation of deceased persons.
The JD (U) has set another target: decentralise powers and policies of the government to the village level; provide reasonable insurance cover for both health and death to all the people living below the poverty line in the villages.
Further, the party laid emphasis on youth development and assured to ensure fair means when they are availing job opportunities; curb irregularities in the process of appointments; constitute a staff selection board (SSB) in line with the Staff Selection Committee to conduct examinations for vacant posts that do not fall within the purview of the Nagaland Public Service Commission.
On the road sector, the party assured to lay emphasis on efficient maintenance of existing roads besides constructing new roads wherever required.
On the health sector, the party declared that it would ensure making available all programmes that can bring benefits to the common people.
No pre-poll alliance
The party has made it clear that it will not enter into any pre-poll alliance with any party for the forthcoming assembly elections.
Lotha said that the organisation would assess the situation for post-poll alliance only after the election. Clarifying why it went out of the DAN alliance, Lotha said that ‘the party cannot dance to the tune of leaders who keeps on shifting their allegiance one after the other just for their personal benefits.’
“The last five years of DAN (Democratic Alliance of Nagaland) government had been full of crisis. We cannot be a partner to such leaders and party who only runs after personal benefits without fulfilling their task of being elected leaders,” he said.
Lotha assured that it will not be repeated by the party’s elected representatives in the future. In the 12th NLA, the JD (U) had one representative—BS Nganlang, from 48th Aboi assembly constituency— who later shifted allegiance to the Naga People’s Front (NPF) and now would be contesting on the NPF ticket this election.
