Kohima, Feb. 18 (EMN): A candidate of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) for the 8th Western Angami assembly constituency, Kevisekho Kruse, on Sun. said the instability of the Nagaland government during the past five years and the negative results it brought about on the state and its people were a cry for drastic change in policy decisions.
Addressing a press conference at his residential office at Lerie on Sun. afternoon, Kruse, who had served as chief engineer of the Public Health Engineering department (PHED) during 2012-2017, attested to his claims about the present government being instable: He recalled that his erstwhile department has had five different ministers during his past five years in office.
The frequent change in guard, the candidate said, created much confusion and disturbance in carrying out government programmes and schemes. The ultimate loss was suffered by the public, he said.
According to the former government officer, it was one of the main reasons why he decided to enter politics and contest in the forthcoming Nagaland assembly elections. The state, he opined, was in dire need of drastic policy decisions, and toward this he was aspiring to be part of a government that would usher in such kinds of policies.
Kruse will be contesting for the first time in the forthcoming elections from a constituency that has been a regional bastion for several decades.
The candidate pointed out also that while the past few years had brought about ‘chaos’ in the government functioning, the aspiring politician was of that view that there is hope for the Naga people with a new regional party–the NDPP—coming into the picture. It is under the leadership of former chief minister and former Lok Sabha member Neiphiu Rio. He said that Rio had during his time as chief minister from 2003 till 2014, provided a stable government. He believes that the former chief minister will be able to deliver stability in governance again if the NDPP wins this election. Saying that stability was a prerequisite to peace and development, Kruse asserted: If the NDPP is voted into power, a stable government under Rio will definitely usher in peace and development in Nagaland.
Highlighting his priorities if he were elected, Kruse spoke about the need for drastic policy decisions to ‘revive the government schools’ in the state which, he said, were presently a ‘total failure’ particularly in the management and inspection system.
When queried about his views on reservation of seats for women, Kruse said he supported reservation but felt that it should not be dictated by the centre. The state assembly, he said, was empowered through Article 371A to enact its own laws and it should do so on reservation in consultation with the people.
Also, Kruse did not hesitate to point fingers that the highest number of sanctions from the centre were made for national highways during the 12th legislative assembly. However, he said implementation of work were ‘on ground for the public to see.’ He emphasized that there was much to do for the next government to pick up from where the 12th house left.
The candidate added that the Naga people were a honest and good people ‘in general’ but due to ‘some leadership going wrong,’ people from outside had started seeing the community in poor light. Asserting that the NDPP was keen to change that mindset by ushering in ‘value-based politics,’ Kruse expressed confidence that the BJP-NDPP alliance would win with absolute majority crossing the ‘magic figure’ of 31 out of 60 and form the government. According to him, 1982-2002 was of the Congress; 2003-2017 the NPF regime and from 2018 onward the NDPP’s.
