Nagaland goes to polls on Monday; security amped up

Nagaland will go to polls on Monday with over 13 lakh voters expected to exercise their franchise to decide the electoral fate of 183 candidates in 59 assembly seats out of a total 60. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and sitting MLA Kazheto Kinimi won the Akuluto constituency in Zunheboto district uncontested.

The polling will be held from 7am to 4pm across 2,291 polling stations out of which, 196 will be managed by women polling personnel and 10 by persons with disabilities. Police said security has been enhanced in all the districts to ensure that unwarranted incidents are prevented and the polling process is conducted peacefully.

Out of the 183 candidates in the fray, only four are female. The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) has nominated two women candidates while the BJP and the Congress have fielded one each.

Chief minister Neiphiu Rio’s NDPP is contesting on 40 out of 60 seats as per the pre-poll seat sharing formula (40:20) with ally BJP who is contesting in 20 constituencies. The Congress has fielded 23 candidates, regional Naga People’s Front (NPF) has 22, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 15, Nationalist Congress Party and National People’s Party 12 each, Republican Party of India (Athawale) 9, Janata Dal (United) 7, Rashtriya Janata Dal has 3, Communist Party of India and Rising People’s Party have one candidate each while there are 19 independent candidates.

In 2018, the NDPP allied with the BJP and formed the government in the state with support from the JD(U) and an independent. In 2021, the NPF joined the ruling NDPP-led coalition to form an opposition-less government. Last year the NDPP and BJP announced that they will continue their 2018 pre-poll seat-sharing arrangement. The pre-poll partnership is seeking a mandate for the second term with Rio as the chief ministerial face.

The NPF and Congress have both expressed they were open to post-poll arrangements with other “like-minded” and “secular” parties to form a coalition government.

Rio, who is headed for a straight race with Congress’s newcomer Seyievilie Sachu in Northern-II seat under Kohima district, will be casting his vote at his native village Touphema. Deputy chief minister and BJP leader Yanthungo Patton is in a four-cornered contest against state JD (U) president Senchumo Lotha, RJD’s Y Kikon and independent Hayithung Tungoe Lotha. State BJP chief Temjen Imna Along is also in a straight race with JD (U)’s J Lanu Longchar in Alongtaki constituency under Mokokchung district. State Congress president K Therie will contest with BJP’s sitting MLA H Tovihoto Ayemi in Dimapur-I seat.