“There should be the willingness to promote women candidates in the legislative seat.”
MTimes: Why did you choose NDPP of all the parties?
Since the general election in 2003, I have been politically involved. I have always been involved in the NPF, and I once served as president of the women’s wing for my district.
However, once the power struggle started within the top legislators, there were persistent problems after problems.
And fortunately, at the right time, sir Metsubo announced his declaration with the NDPP ticket, and because he appeared to be able to inspire new hopes and aspirations, I chose to support him. And that was how I became associated with NDPP.
MTimes: Just a few days after the BJP-NDPP seat-sharing declaration, induction of about 20 party workers from NDPP was announced. Are you concerned with such developments?
I am in a way very concerned with the development. The NDPP party has been dealing with a presidential issue, which is no secret to all Nagas. However, none of the party members harbour any grudges among themselves.
If we consider the most recent developments in relation to seat sharing at 20:40 BJP: NDPP, I am concerned that this arrangement might not work out so well. While I am content with 20:40 at the moment, my personal observation indicates that there is a good likelihood that the BJP might assert 30:30 in the near future.
Regarding the recently held induction program, it is regrettable that so many capable leaders from NDPP have gone. However, even if our government is a coalition, it is crucial to remember that the party’s colours are still different.
MTimes: Although the BJP-NDPP partnership currently forms the UDA government, the BJP has recently been rising rapidly as a single party. Does this development frighten you?
Unless the political texture changes, it is not very alarming. I work in politics and I want to continue working in politics. There are no problems among the party workers since whatever problems exist are largely at the level of the legislators.
My understanding is that we, the party workers, must continue to be party workers and should concentrate on activities that will progress the party.
However, if the political candidate changes their political color, it is obvious that we, the workers, will feel very uneasy and that our previous knowledge of the party will be destroyed.
MTimes: Currently, Minister Metsubo Jamir, a candidate for your party, represents Mokokchung Town. How pleased are you with the job that has been done so far by him?
I am happy with his actions overall.
I am aware that just because he is a leader, he cannot necessarily aid every single person by counting heads. Therefore, in my opinion, he has fulfilled many of the promises he made during his campaign.
For instance, the truck that transports water prevents a lot of other vehicular movements, making the town rather congested, especially during the dry season. So, regardless of whether he won or lost, he pledged during his campaign to bring about change by installing bore wells in every ward. So, as far as I’m concerned, he did provide those bore-wells to all wards immediately after winning, and as of right now, we can see that it has decreased the congestion of vehicle movements caused by those vehicles. Additionally, people can acquire water more easily now.
Although I was not a member of the party they led, in the past, we had lawmakers who even held the position of chief minister. However, based on my observations up to this point, I believe Metsubo has already accomplished much of what those previous governments had accomplished over the previous 10-15 years.
He has also given back to the community in a variety of ways, including constructing footsteps, building community halls and listening to public grievances.
MTimes: Which of his many accomplishments do you find to be the most impressive?
He and his family gave everything they had during the Covid crisis, including generators, medical kits, and much more, not only for our constituency but for every other constituency he could reach out to.
MTimes: Do you have any requests for the party regarding women in general?
“We Nagas have long believed that women cannot hold positions of leadership in politics. Women are only used for mobilization and campaigning, after all, but sadly, our men do not want to seat women as legislators. But we should make an effort to transform this area.”
There will be deserving female candidates in some constituencies, thus there should be a willingness to support a female candidate for a legislative seat. But men typically lack such opinions and counsel.
It is impossible to see this becoming a reality until such thinking changes.
In light of the current ULB situation and the issue that is developing in response to the Supreme Court order, it does seem as though ULB will be implemented.
Accordingly, in my opinion, this can be a good opportunity for women to enter the field and use it as a trial where they can gain experience and self-assurance.
MTimes: Do you pressure and forward such ideas during the party meet?
We do table these things in our party meet. General election is quite male dominant but you see, we lack a platform to even practice it.
MTimes: Do you intend to stand for election in the future?
I am not interested in participating in the general election; we are more like the kingmakers.
“But in municipal election, if given the chance given that our colony received the quota and that the people nominated me, I would unquestionably give Mokokchung my very best effort.”
MTimes: How is the party assessing the issues of rampant backdoor appointment, the growing unemployment and the corruption menace that the state is witnessing at the moment?
It has indeed reached the climax where we should talk more vocally on corruption. It is time we demand for a corruption-free state. The unfortunate thing about Nagaland is that, back from the early days of congress, corruption already was deeply seeded in us and to this day, that trend has followed. We live in a scenario where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Thus, it is time we need youngsters who speak the truth to take centerstage in improving the world. I mean, a lot of it depends upon leadership as well. We need to keep giving chances to new leadership because reformation and changes can only come through leaders.
MTimes: Metsubo is a part of the UDA government and consequently, he becomes a part of the “alleged corrupted government”. Will the candidate receive support from your party? Will the party pressure the Minister to make changes if you continue to support the same candidate?
Whoever may contest in Metsubo’s place, our society is deeply rooted with corruption so it will take time to remove the roots of such evil.
“I mean, irrespective of which party or constituency, can the public at least give chance to a candidate who can contest without money?”
I mean, it is us, the electorate who make the leaders corrupt because it is us -the electorate – who even go to the extent of abandoning the leaders in case a favor of xyz is not done for them.
MTimes: So, will your party work to set a good example for others and encourage them to avoid such a corrupt cycle?
I would like to answer through my own personal story. It has been only a while since I joined this party. On my part, my greatest concern has been whether we, as a leader, are bringing any sort of reformation during our time or not. I mean, automatically we cannot remove the evils of the society. It will take time to root out such evil.
I believe I am an honest person and have never asked for a penny in my life. I am ready to voice out the truth. I understand that we cannot move mountains, we cannot move a city or a ward but we can implant the seed. And I believe that seed can bring about a change.
I have often told our women organization that it is very illegal to ask things to any leaders and I shall not be leading in that pattern.
I really think that although the Nagaland legislative assembly being the head of the state is important, I strongly believe thatMunicipal election will be of much benefit to us for it can bring about a significant amount of changes.
I mean, we are too dependent on the Nagaland government starting from salary to construction of everything. So, I believe that decentralization of power is the way to go. We must strengthen our local government and should really emphasize on Municipal election.
MTimes: Mokokchung is becoming economically poor with no investment and no human resources. Besides, the town is often considered one of the costliest towns. There is no denying that we have not been progressing for the past decade or so. What do you suggest your candidate do to bring about a change?
Speaking of market prices, online services and goods being charged with very high prices has led to the decline of a strong economic activity in the town.
Secondly, our market is controlled by a lot of agents and these agents have suppressed the market a lot so, identifying those and removing such practices is very important.
Coming to legislators and their role, Metsubo is a bureaucrat turned politician and he is on a learning stage in the political arena. I believe it is important for him to get trained. Most significantly, irrespective of the party, the legislators must work hand-in-hand and must be united. One should make sure that the party ego does not get into their head.
However, as mentioned before, I strongly believe that a municipal body is the way to go. I mean, we cannot expect a legislator to cover every nook and corner in the five-year term.