Temjen Imna Along reinstated as Nagaland state BJP President
Minister for Higher & Technical Education, Temjen Imna Along Longkumer who was reinstated as state BJP president along with party leaders address as press conference at Hotel Saramati, Dimapur on Tuesday. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 14
Minister for Higher & Technical Education and Tribal Affairs, Temjen Imna Along Longkumer has been reinstated as the State BJP President for the tenure 2020-23 on Tuesday during a brief programme at Hotel Saramati, Dimapur.
Minister for Transport, Civil Aviation & Railways, Land Resources, P. Paiwang Konyak was also elected as the BJP National Council Member representing the state BJP.
The announcements were made in the presence of two BJP National Observers, Saroj Pandey, National General Secretary and Nitin Nabin, MLA from Bihar.
Electing Along as the President, by consensus, comes ahead of the National BJP Presidential election. Electing new team of office bearers for all the BJP units in the country prior to the national party election is a tradition which the party has been following for a long time.
Two party members including Imna Along and Dr. Sukhato Wotsa filed nominations to the post of State BJP President. However, Imna Along was elected as the President by consensus and it was also the desire of the national BJP, said James Vizo, General Secretary, State BJP after the programme.
Speaking briefly during the programme, Imna Along thanked the state party members and the national party leaders for reposing their faith in him. Imna Along became the State BJP President in June 2018 replacing Visasolie Lhoungu.
‘CAA shall not affect Nagaland’
Meanwhile, the State BJP President said, “the Citizenship Amendment Act shall not affect Nagaland State” while asserting that the Constitutional provisions such as BEFR, 1873 and Article 371 (A) protects the people of the state.
He said this during a press conference after the election of the State BJP President. Imna Along was responding to a query from media persons on the issue of the country-wide protests against the CAA. Along maintained that the CAA is not an Act to take away the citizenship of the Indians but a window for those who can apply for Indian citizenship. He queried as to how the Nagas or Nagaland state would be affected out of the Act.
Pointing out that the ILP regulation has been effective in the state, the State BJP chief said, “the problem lies within us and not with the Indian Union” indicating the failure of the state machinery in effective implementation of the ILP.
Imna Along assured the people that the state BJP would do its best to bridge the gap or any misunderstanding between the Centre and the State.
BJP to keep PDA alliance
Queried whether the party would contest the two vacant seats in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Imna Along said that the party would keep in mind the seat sharing and the principle on which the PDA alliance was formed. Two seats in the NLA remains vacant after the demise of NPF MLA, T. Torechu representing 60 A/C Pungro-Kiphire and Speaker NLA, Vikho-o Yhoshu, who also represented the Southern Angami –I Constituency from NDPP.
Along said that the PDA alliance was yet to sit together on the issue of contesting the by-elections but added that the BJP would “keep the PDA alliance and fight the election on that spirit alone.”
