KVC, PBTA declare support to Clean Election Movement

Kohima Village Council (KVC) and Pochury Baptist Theological Association (PBTA) have declared their support to Clean Election Movement (CEM).
In statement, KVC chairman Helievio Solo announced that the council endorsed CEM initiated by NBCC in principle and the Model Code of Conduct by Election Commission of India (ECI). He insisted that this should be followed in the ensuing general election in 10 Northern Angami I AC scheduled on February 27.
He narrated nine points for the movement, which include not buying votes with money, not insisting/forcing a clan, khel, village, or family to declare support for a particular candidate, not bribing voters with money or materials, refrain from distributing alcohol or other intoxicants to voters, not setting up camps in colonies, khels, or wards, not using use force, intimidation and undue influence on voters, not to get involved in booth capturing and any other activities that were unbecoming of any political party, no proxy voting and not allowing outsiders who were not genuine voters to disrupt the voting process. He said these were for ensuring a free and fair election.
PBTA: Noting that in the past everyone had played blame game to achieve their own goals, PBTA president Wuothovi in a separate statement called to end the wrong practices and take responsibility for “our wrong actions and change ourselves for our better future”.
He stressed that the right principle of democracy should be restored in order to bring change in the society by all individuals and groups.
He insisted that all policies and forces that were against true democratic electioneering system must be stopped once and for all. He said every individual must exercise one’s own democratic right responsibly and consciously for the common welfare. Calling for voting clean and for development, he also appealed to all to abide by the guidelines of CEM.
Wuothovi stated that the 14th Nagaland Assembly election was at the doorstep and all political parties were gearing up for it. He mentioned that election had shown the dark side of everyone, whereby all sorts of corrupt practices were carried out by different groups and individuals.
According to him, everybody had seen and felt the negative impact of wrong practices during election in Nagaland and people had walked under the shadow of money and muscle power for so long.
He said it appeared that nobody trusted the election process any longer as everyone saw and knew the mess of election and the consequences they brought upon them.
Wuothovi claimed that everyone was frustrated for all the corruption and lack of development.
“We realise that the wrong practice of election has caused enormous problem in our society. We all feel the need to change, but majority of us refuse to change our attitude and actions. We have come to the point where it is difficult to have clean and fair election. Nagas feel that corruption is like a giant that cannot be defeated,” he stated.
In the midst of helplessness and hopelessness, he observed that CEM under the aegis of Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) had been creating awareness about the importance of clean and fair election in order to give hope for a better society. Although many people were pessimistic about its success, he noted that it had impacted the society positively in a great way.
The PBTA president stated that the movement’s message was being taken to different corners, from churches to colleges and to every section of society. He said its message had reached the Naga masses although many were yet to realise and change.