Tripura to vote on Feb 18, Meghalaya, Nagaland on Feb 27, results on Mar 3

New Delhi: Polling for the Tripura Assembly will be held on February 18 while Meghalaya and Nagaland will vote on February 27, the Election Commission announced on Thursday.

Results for all three states will be declared on March 3, Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti said.

The term of the Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura legislative assemblies is ending on March 6, March 13 and March 14 respectively.

"Model code of conduct comes into effect from Thursday," Joti said.

The Chief Election Commissioner said, "Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura all have 60 seats each. Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) will be used in all three states, first level checks have been completed."

In Tripura, the Left Front has been in power since 1993 and Chief Minister Manik Sarkar is heading the government for the fourth consecutive term. In the upcoming polls, the BJP is eyeing victory in the state and boosting its northeast scorecard after six Trinamool Congress (TMC) and one Congress MP joined the saffron party.

In Meghalaya, the Congress-led government of Mukul Sangma has ruled for eight years. The party faces a big challenge from the BJP, which has an alliance with the Manipur National People's party founded by PA Sangma, a former Congressman who died in 2016.

In Nagaland, the Naga People's Front-led Democratic Alliance, backed by the BJP, is in power with TR Zeliang as the Chief Minister. In 2017, the state confronted a political crisis with the Chief Minister changing twice.

A majority of people in the state wants the election to be put off until there is a solution to the insurgency and the peace process is complete.

Apart from Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram will also go to polls this year. The elections are seen crucial ahead of the general polls scheduled in 2019.