[caption id="attachment_166190" align="aligncenter" width="565"]
Kiren Rijiju (middle) flanked by the president of the Nagaland BJP unit Visasolie Lhoungu (left), and the BJP’s national general secretary Ram Lal at a press conference on Feb. 24 at the Niathu Resort in Dimapur. (EM Images)[/caption]
Dimapur, Feb. 24 (EMN): The Union Home Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju has concluded his last leg of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign in Dimapur with one more shot: The ‘malicious campaign’ of the Indian National Congress (INC) and ‘other elements’ have failed.
Speaking to media persons at a press conference at the Niathu Resort in Dimapur, Rijiju said that there had been ‘no problem’ with rival parties even though some tried to ‘malign’ the BJP and the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
“These malicious campaigns by the Congress party and some elements have totally failed,” he claimed. He assured that as a federal entity Nagaland will be governed by the state’s government run by the Naga people. He said that the there was ‘no question of imposition of any other faith.’
Dubbing this year’s elections as the “most vibrant and intrusive campaign” in the history of Nagaland, Rijiju said that the response for the BJP was the ‘best response.’ He said that the prime minister’s rally in Tuensang was ‘historic’ in many ways.
“This election has seen a massive support to the BJP from the remotest corner. The public response has been tremendous. We are very happy,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Nagaland government led by the NPF, the minister said there had been ‘extreme instability’ in the past four years. For this, he said, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the BJP coalition wants to provide security and a stable government to ‘achieve peace, progress and prosperity for the people of Nagaland.
Rijiju is also the district in-charge of the BJP in Kiphire. He claimed that they have reached the “nook and corner” of Nagaland. He said this year’s election was underway not only to bring a new government but also to ‘define Naga politics.’ “We will define the future of Nagaland. Nothing will come in between,” he asserted.
He assured that once the ‘Naga accord’ is finalised, the NDPP-BJP alliance will implement it as soon as possible.
When asked to comment about the Naga People’s Front (NPF) and BJP’s alliance in Manipur, Rijiju said that the president of the NPF Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu and Chief minister TR Zeilang were saying two different things. As far as Manipur is concerned, he said, the state was having a stable government.
“There is cordial relationship between the hills and the plains; we should not mischievously act to destabilize the government.” He added that it was a political gimmick for Liezietsu to say that the BJP was anti-Christian. “BJP is the only party to solve the Naga problem. Somebody has to take the lead.”
Further, the minister said that the Congress party did not recognise the Naga issue. The only problem the party saw was law and order problem, he said. “Vajpayee understood and identified the Naga problem and committed to solve it.” He added that the BJP was participating in the elections to solve the problem. “We move straight forward with committed vision. Everything will be solved democratically,” he said.
Rijiju explained that the issue of corruption was ‘well known and Nagaland election was one of the most expensive in the country.’ “Nagaland not only needs a special economy package but also needs a clean transparent government.”
That said, he apologised for giving Noklak and Akhuloto a miss. He said that ‘due to the bad weather’ he could not make it but assured that he would ‘personally take full responsibility for the development’ of said area.
