Imchalemba (born 18 June 1939) is an Indian politician from

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the ...

. He was elected as the

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections on ...

twice, representing the state in the

10th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 10th Lok Sabha, (20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996) elected during 1991 Indian general election held during May–June 1991. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India, four sitting membe ...

and

11th Lok Sabha General elections were held in India in April–May 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls ...

. He was also the founding editor of the defunct newspaper, Nagaland Times.

Political Life

On 30 April 1970, the

Nagaland Nationalist Organisation Nagaland Nationalist Organisation was a political party in Nagaland, India. It formed the government in Nagaland from 1964 to 1974. Nagaland was converted to a state by the ''State of Nagaland Act, 1962'' and elections were called for in 1964. ...

(NNO) wrote a memorandum to the Central government seeking the integration of contiguous Naga areas of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It ...

, and

North-East Frontier Agency The North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA), originally known as the North-East Frontier Tracts (NEFT), was one of the political divisions in British India, and later the Republic of India until 20 January 1972, when it became the Union Territory of ...

into the

state. Reverend Savino and Imchalemba in their respective capacities of President and General Secretary of the NNO also signed this memorandum. It also demanded that the portfolio of law and order be transferred from the state governor to the state government. In June 1980, Imchalemba, the incumbent Agriculture Minister in the Nagaland state government, and Tekuyaba from the Naga National Democratic Party tabled a resolution in the state assembly asking for the removal of the incumbent deputy speaker of the house, Rainbow Ezung. Ezung submitted his resignation on 21 June 1980 denying charges of being partisan.

Member of Parliament

After a brief stint as the minister in the Nagaland state government, Imchalemba filed his nomination for the Nagaland seat in the

1991 Indian general election General elections were held in India on 20 May, 12 June and 15 June 1991 to elect the members of the 10th Lok Sabha, although they were delayed until 19 February 1992 in Punjab. No party could muster a majority in the Lok Sabha, resulting in t ...

on the Nagaland People's Council (NPC) ticket. His opponents were the sitting MP,

Shikiho Sema Shikiho Sema was an Indian politician. He was a Member of Parliament, representing Nagaland in the Lok Sabha the lower house of India's Parliament as a member of the Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloqu ...

from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

(Congress), and Pius Lotha from the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

(BJP). This was the first time that the BJP was contesting the parliamentary election from the state. Both the Congress and NPC criticised the BJP for introducing communal politics in the state. However, Lotha denied that his party was a communal party. The ban on the

National Socialist Council of Nagaland The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) is a Naga nationalist separatist group operating mainly in Northeast India, with minor activities in northwest Myanmar (Burma). The main aim of the organisation is to establish a sovereign Naga ...

on 28 November 1990 became a key issue in the elections. Both Congress and the NPC traded charges against each other as influencing the Vishwanath Pratap Singh's

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

towards the ban. All parties in Nagaland had registered their protest towards the ban. In addition, the Nagaland state assembly passed a unanimous resolution calling for immediate lifting of the ban. After a delay in announcing the results due to technical reasons, Imchalemba was announced victorious. In August 1991, non-Congress MPs from Northeast India joined hands to urge the then Prime Minister

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to Indi ...

to initiate steps for an early solution to the pressing economic and political problems in the region, including holding dialogue with the

United Liberation Front of Asom The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) (Assamese: সংযুক্ত মুক্তি বাহিনী, অসম) is an armed separatist organisation operating in the Northeast Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an ind ...

. They reiterated that military intervention would not solve the emergence of insurgent groups in the region. Imchalemba joined this moved initiated by

Jayanta Rongpi Jayanta Rongpi is an Indian politician. He served as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha for the Autonomous District constituency of Assam from 1991 to 2004. In 1991, 1996 and 1998 he was elected as a candidate of the Autonomous State Demand Comm ...

. On 28 July 1992, Imchalemba joined the Congress which the NPC termed as a betrayal.

Vizol Koso Vizol Vitso-n Koso (16 November 1914 – 3 March 2008) was an Indian politician from Nagaland who served as the 4th Chief Minister of Nagaland twice from February 1974 until March 1975 and November 1977 until April 1980. He became the Chief Mi ...

, the NPC President, said that he was unaware of Imchalemba's plans and was not consulted on the matter.

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imchalemba Indian National Congress politicians from Nagaland Lok Sabha members from Nagaland India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 1939 births Living people Naga people People from Jorhat district