Let Us Rise Up and Rebuild

Clean Election is the need of the hour to re-built our beloved state Nagaland - NVCO

In Nagaland scenario another root cause of “Corruption” is the manner in which the General State Assembly Election and the By-Election is conducted in electing the so called leader and now the people of Southern Angami-1 constituency and the 60 Pungro-Kiphire constituency is facing the upcoming 3rd November By-election poll. To root out the corrupt practices of election is certainly not an easy task, we live in a situation where ‘everybody knew but nobody obeyed’ and ‘everybody said and nobody did’. Hence we need a strong hand to cure the malaise of election malpractices. No one is above the law and no one is above God. These are the few factors which result to unfair election; i) compulsion to win – many candidates adopt unfair means to win, they use money, muscle and gun power to win  ii) poverty – poverty is another reason that compels a person to accept money from the candidate to meet their basic needs  iii) ignorance – many of the villagers do not know whether accepting money in exchange of vote is ethically right or wrong  iv) greediness – it cannot be an exaggeration to say that many people in our society take money not because they are poor or out of ignorance but purely to accumulate wealth  v) clan-ism/group-ism/village-ism.

Election is a good means of choosing a leader but because of the wrong practices of election, we hear painful stories of division among the families, clans and villages and the fabric of friendship and love is completely destroyed. The climate of unity and love among the church members is being eroded by the negative forces of election. We must not make election as a battle ground rather cast your vote fairly and justly. We sell our vote just for some cash and it’s like we are selling our rights for five years and which we struggle because of improper road conditions, bridges, schools, hospitals and vice versa. Fair Election is the pillar of good governance.

Clean Election is nothing but a call to all the people of all background to commit themselves to consciously elect their leaders with integrity without being manipulated through corruption or other unhealthy means. India as a democratic country, the government is the people for the people and by the people. It is a form of government which all the citizens have equal right in the decision making. Corrupt election results in poor governance, increasing poverty, crime and social instability which can lead to violence and wars. The sole purpose of clean election is to tell the truth, to fight for the truth, to stand for the truth and to bring positive change in our society. Election is the right means of choosing the right leaders to lead our state. In the past elections, we have seen that money had been place at the top and God at the bottom. Candidates have used money to woe voters while on the other hand, voters demanded money for their vote. Proxy voting was rampant. Proxy voting is stealing of another’s identity and that amounts to impersonation. Many individuals choose to select and vote for the candidate who spends more money during election. Nagaland is a land where almost all the politicians, candidates and voters are Christians. And this is the right place to do what is right according to the Biblical truth, avoiding all forms of mal-practices. Let us pray and hope that clean election will prevail in the forth coming By-Election, and may our state be a land free of corruption where true democracy prevails. NVCO President Kezhokhoto Savi who is from Southern Angami-1 constituency with great concern challenges his people and all the voters from the 60 Pungro-Kiphire constituency with a message -  “Let us rise up and rebuild”.