Poll campaign ends in Nagaland and Meghalaya
Shillong/Kohima, Feb 25 (IBNS): The high-octane poll campaign in two North East states, Nagaland and Meghalaya, ended on Sunday evening.
Nagaland and Meghalaya are going to hold the assembly polls on Feb 27.
Both the states have witnessed several violent incidents during the election campaign.
In Meghalaya, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate for Williamnagar, Jonathone N Sangma, was shot dead by the suspected Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) in East Garo Hills district on Feb 18.
This election has landed a challenge for both the ruling parties in Nagaland and Meghalaya.
Congress has ruled for 15 years in Meghalaya, but recent trends have placed the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the grand old party.
The saffron party has tied up with National People’s Party (NPP), founded by former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Agitok Sangma.
NPP is also an ally of NDA in Manipur.
In Meghalaya, both BJP and NPP have fielded their candidates separately, but have declared to form post-poll alliance.
On the other hand, BJP had dumped its 15-year-old alliance partner Naga People’s Front (NPF) in Nagaland and forged a bond with the newly formed Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), led by three times former Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
The BJP-NDPP is expected to give a tough competition to the ruling party.
Even before the polls, Neiphiu Rio has already been declared a winner as he remains unopposed in the Northern Angami- II assembly constituency.
The BJP is eying to expand its footprints in entire North East after forming government in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
Eying a clean sweep in the North East, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assumed the role of campaign head in both the states.
Apart from PM Modi, BJP’s national president Amit Shah, Union Home minister Rajnath Singh, several union ministers, top BJP leaders, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NED) convener and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had campaigned in Nagaland and Meghalaya on behalf of its candidates.
On the other hand, Congress president Rahul Gandhi himself spearheaded the campaign in Meghalaya.
Congress has fielded 59 candidates in Meghalaya, while BJP has fielded candidates in 47 and NPP fielded in 52 assembly constituencies.
In Nagaland, Congress has fielded its candidates in only 18 constituencies, while BJP fielded its candidates in 20, NDPP in 40 and NPF in 58 constituencies.
There are 370 candidates in the fray in Meghalaya and around 18.4 lakh voters in the state will decide their fate on Feb 27.
On the other hand, around, 11.91 lakh voters will decide the fate of 195 candidates, including 5 women candidates, in Nagaland.
After the formation of Nagaland, the state has so far not elected any woman candidate to its Legislative Assembly, but it could all change in 2018.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Image: Respective Twitter accounts of Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi
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