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Five-time Nagaland MLA Imkong L Imchen dies. He was 75
Officials said Imchen was admitted to a hospital on November 7 after a suspected heart attack and breathed his last on November 10 in a Guwahati hospital
KOHIMA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Nagaland’s Koridang assembly seat Imkong L Imchen, died at Guwahati on Tuesday. He was 75.
Officials said Imchen, the state government’s advisor for Information and Public Relations (IPR), was admitted to a hospital in Kohima on November 7 after a suspected heart attack. He was airlifted to Guwahati on November 10 and breathed his last the following day.
A state funeral will be held on November 12 at 9:30am.
A five-time MLA, Imchen hailed from Mangmetong village in Mokokchung and sarted out in student politics where he was also chairman of an action panel of post-graduate student body at North Eastern Hill University Shillong and general secretary of the influential Naga Students’ Federation. He joined state politics in 1989 as a secretary as Mokokchung district Congress committee.
He has been elected to the Nagaland assembly since 2003 and has served as a Naga People’s Front (NPF) minister and held charge of rural development, health and family welfare, power, school education, forest and climate change, and home. He joined the BJP during the 2023 state assembly elections and was appointed advisor for IPR and soil and water conservation, a position he held till his demise.
In his condolence message, Nagaland governor Ajay Kumar Bhala recalled Imchen’s service to the society in different capacities. “In his death, the State has lost a dedicated and sincere leader,” he said.
Chief minister Neiphiu Rio recalled his long association with Imchen. “He was not only a colleague but also a dear friend. I knew him as a warm, cheerful and an outspoken person, who was never afraid to express his opinions and always stood up for what he believed in. He was a visionary leader, who had the rare ability to connect with people from all walks of life. Throughout his political journey, he worked tirelessly and selflessly for the welfare of the people.
In his passing, the Ao community and the Naga people have lost a stalwart leader, and the void he leaves behind will be difficult to fill,” Rio said.
