The northeastern states of Nagaland and Meghalaya are all set to go to the polls on Monday with the Election Commission and security agencies adopting all necessary steps to ensure a smooth voting process, according to people aware of the details.
In Nagaland, more than 1,300,000 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the electoral fate of 183 candidates in 59 out of 60 assembly seats. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and sitting MLA Kazheto Kinimi won the Akuluto constituency in Zunheboto district uncontested.
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 people with disabilities, the people cited above said.
“Security has been enhanced in all districts to keep a check on law and order and that the polling process is conducted peacefully,” a police official said.
There are only four female candidates in the fray – two from chief minister Neiphiu Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and one each from the BJP and Congress.
The NDPP is contesting in 40 seats, as per a seat-sharing pact with ally BJP which has fielded its candidates in the remaining seats.
The Congress has fielded 23 candidates, regional Naga People’s Front (NPF) 22, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 15, Nationalist Congress Party and National People’s Party 12 each, Republican Party of India (Athawale) nine, Janata Dal (United) seven, Rashtriya Janata Dal three and the Communist Party of India and Rising People’s Party one each. There are 19 Independent candidates.
In 2018, the NDPP allied with the BJP and formed the government with the support from 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 it would 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 said they are open to post-poll arrangements with other “like-minded” and “secular” parties to form a coalition government.
In Meghalaya, too, polling will be held in 59 out of 60 assembly seats. Polling in Sohiong constituency has been postponed due to the death of one of the candidates.
While the ruling National People’s Party is fighting to retain power in the state, the BJP and Trinamool Congress are trying to unseat the incumbent government.
More than 2,160,000 people are eligible to cast their vote. A total of 3,419 polling booths have been set up. As many as 640 polling booths have been categorised as “vulnerable” and 323 as “critical”.
A total of 369 candidates, including 36 women candidates, are in the fray.
Chief electoral officer F R Kharkongor said “preparations for conducting a free, fair and peaceful election have been completed”.
The NPP, which has been leading the ruling alliance for the last five years, is fighting alone against former ally BJP, opposition TMC, and other regional parties such as the United Democratic Party and People’s Democratic Front.