All eyes will be on voting on February 27 for assembly elections in Nagaland and Meghalaya. Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 4 pm on February 27.
In Nagaland, voting is being held for 59 seats in the 60-seat legislative assembly, as the BJP has bagged the AKuluto seat in the remote Zunheboto district uncontested.
A total of 183 candidates are in the fray, and the major contending parties are BJP and its alliance partner NDPP.
Other parties include Congress, NPF, LJP (Ram Vilas), NPP, JD-U and NCP. There are four women candidates, one from BJP and Congress and two from the State’s ruling party NDPP.
Since statehood on December 1, 1963, Nagaland has never elected any woman candidate to the state assembly. It got its first woman MP in Rajya Sabha in 2022 when BJP nominated S Phangnon Konyak.
There are altogether 13, 17,632 voters who will decide the fate of the candidates.
Nagaland election department officials have said elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polls. Of 2,315 polling booths, 777 have been declared critical and 720 vulnerable. Interstate borders with Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh have been sealed to avoid untoward incidents. Vigil has been intensified along the Indo-Myanmar border too.
In Meghalaya, a total of 369 candidates are in the fray for the election in 59 constituencies in the 60-seat State assembly. The election in the Sohiong constituency has been suspended due to the demise of UDP candidate.
The BJP is contesting all 60 seats for the first time and is keen to form a Government of its own.
In the previous assembly, it had two MLAs and was part of the Conrad Sangma-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.
In Nagaland, the BJP is contesting only 20 seats sticking to the 2018 formula and left 40 seats for its alliance partner NDPP led by incumbent Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
In Meghalaya, principal political parties in the fray are NPP, BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress and UDP.
While in Meghalaya, general improvement in the law and order situation, development and creation of jobs are principal issues at the polls, in Nagaland, the polls have larger significance as issues such as
Solution and Peace Talks to end the Naga insurgency, creating a new autonomous territory in Eastern Nagaland and ending extortion menace by unscrupulous elements are issues before the people.
In his February 24 speech at an election rally near Dimapur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that once the new Government takes charge in March, more stringent measures will be taken against those who indulge in extortion.
The counting of votes will be taken up for Nagaland and Meghalaya, along with Tripura, on March 2.
In BJP-ruled Tripura, polling was held on February 16. The principal stakeholders in Tripura polls are the Left, led by CPI-M, Congress, BJP, Trinamool Congress, and a newly floated Tipra Motha.
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