Nagaland, set to go polls, on February 27 is seeing a flurry of political activity. The state has a 6-member Assembly.
At least 13 parties including the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Naga People's Front (NPF), the Congress, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), the National People's Party (NPP), Janata Dal (United), Republican Party of India (Athawale), Nationalist Congress Party, Rising People's Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and CPI have nominated candidates for the polls. Four women are among the 200 candidates who have filed nominations so far.
The NDPP has entered into a seat-sharing pact with the BJP, however, it will be interesting to see if the state continues to have an all-party government.
Nagaland is the only state in the country to have such an “all-party" arrangement (since September 2021). This is primarily to present the state as a united front for the Naga talks.
2018 Assembly Elections
In 2018, BJP, which was in alliance with NDPP then too, bagged around 12 seats with a 15.31 per cent vote share. Meanwhile NDPP won 17 seats with a 25.30 per cent vote share.
The Naga People’s Front (NPF) won 26 seats with 38.78 per cent vote share.
The BJP and its regional ally NDPP had won the assembly elections in 2018. But the opposition Naga People's Front, which had won 25 seats in the 60-member-House, joined the government led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio after three years in order to press the Centre for signing the final agreement to end the Naga conflicts.
The Congress failed to open its account in any seat there and is currently bereft of any MLA in the 60-member House. It had last won eight seats in 2013, but the MLAs later joined the Naga People's Front.
According to the data provided by the Election Commission of India (ECI), parties of other states including AAP, which is planning to go all out in assembly elections in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya this year, couldn't win a single seat in Nagaland in 2018.
JD(U) bagged one out of the 13 seats it contested. Other parties like LJP couldn’t win any seats. One seat was won by an Independent candidate. The National People’s Party (NPP) won two seats with a 7.12 per cent vote share.
Candidates who won with highest margin
* NDPP’s Viko-o-yhoshu who contested from Southern Angami-i won with a whopping margin of 20,182 votes, leaving NPP’s Medokul Sophie far behind.
* H Khehovi of BJP won the Surohoyo seat by a margin of 8,559 votes against NPF’s Dr Kaito Jakhalu.
*NPF’s Moatoshi Longkumer won Dimapur-ii seat by margin of 6,939, defeating NDPP’s candidate Supulebten.
*BJP candidate H Tovihoto Aiyemi won Dimapur-i seat by a 6,600 margin defeating NPF’s Pukhavi Yepthomi.
(With Sumir Karmakar's inputs)