Shillong/Kohima : The high-octane polls campaign in the two Christian dominated North East Indian states Nagaland and Meghalaya had ended on Sunday evening.
Nagaland and Meghalaya are going to hold the assembly polls on February 27.
Both the north eastern Indian states witnessed several violence incidents during the election campaigns.
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 February 18 last.
This election has landed a challenged for both the ruling parties in Nagaland and Meghalaya, where as the BJP emerged a strongest opponent in both the states after ties up with regional parties.
Congress has ruled 15-year in Meghalaya, but this time Congress has landed a big threat from the BJP after 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 partner of NDA and government partner in Manipur also.
In Meghalaya, both BJP and NPP had fielded their candidates separately, but both parties 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 with newly formed political party Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) led by three times former Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and emerged as a big threat to the ruling party.
Neiphiu Rio had already declared unopposed win from 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 to make saffron North East, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the charge of the campaign head in both 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 for 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 of the state will decide their fate on February 27.
On the other hand, around, 11.91 lakh voters will decide the fate of 195 candidates including 5 women candidates in Nagaland.
After formation a state, Nagaland didn’t elected any woman candidate to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly and seems like that 2018 will make a history.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
