KOHIMA, August 25 (NEPS): Politicians are often blamed for “excessive expenditure” during elections but the voters are also equally to be blamed since they demand “money and materials” in exchange for their votes, said Y Kikheto Sema, IAS, Secretary of Land Resources Department while delivering lecture on “Consultation on NBCC Vision 2030” under the theme “Socio-Economic Status of Nagaland today and the role of the Church in major Development areas” held on Wednesday here at the NBCC Platinum Hall.
The Secretary frankly presented his points that since the politicians generally wanted to win; they had to spend “according to the demand of the voters.” He disclosed that the people who negotiated for voters, “the givers and receivers are all Christians and members of the Church.” He further revealed that the demands by the “Baptist Christians are more than that of other denominations such as Roman Catholics, NCRC, and Pentecostals during elections.”
Kikheto, while appreciating the “Clean Election Campaign” of the NBCC, said such campaign should begin right after the end of the election till the next election and not only during elections. He pointed out that the “churches may include such Campaign as syllabus in the Sunday Schools and may request the government to include the same in the syllabus of elementary education.” “This is because the election is the main culprit of not only a negative impact on socio-economy but also creating division among the people,” he stated.
He said the church could not remain a silent spectator on the issue; rather it should renew its commitment to clean elections and go on a war footing with vigorous commitment. The church needs to bring the topic of “Clean Election” to the church platform and stress the importance of the campaign upon all the stakeholders, he said. “If the church fails, blame should not be shifted upon other stakeholders alone,” he said and further added that “once the election process is changed, we can expect a lot of improvement in socio-economic development.”
