Guwahati: A few incidents of violence marred the Assembly elections in Nagaland where a turnout of 75 per cent was recorded on Tuesday while voting went off peacefully in Meghalaya that saw a polling percentage of 67 per cent.
In two separate incidents, one person was killed and three others were injured in a clash between supporters of two political parties and a crude bomb blast at a polling booth before the start of voting in Nagaland.
The results of polling in the two states, along with that of Tripura where voting took place on February 18, will be declared on March 3. The majority mark in all three Assemblies with 60 members is 31.
A total of 195 candidates are vying for 59 seats in Nagaland, five of them are women. A total of 361 candidates are in fray in Meghalaya, out of whom just 32 are women.
An exit poll by NewsX-Jan ki Baat projected 35-45 seats for the BJP and its allies in Tripura against the ruling Left’s 14-23 in a 60-member Assembly.
The exit poll also indicated a loss for the ruling Congress in Meghalaya with the National People’s Party (NPP) getting 23-27 seats, Congress getting 13-17 and the BJP winning 8-12 seats in the Assembly with 60 legislators.
In Nagaland, the exit poll predicted a close fight between the ruling Naga People’s Front, which is likely to get 20-25 seats, and the BJP and its allies that are likely to get 27-32 seats. The Congress is expected to get 0-2 seats in the 60-member House. The Congress currently has no member in the House as its number has come down from eight after the 2013 polls due to resignations.
In the last Assembly elections in Nagaland the turnout was 90.57 per cent. In Meghalaya, the polling percentage in 2013 was 89 per cent. Officials said that the final voting percentage in both the states on Tuesday is likely to go up as the authorities are yet to get the complete data.
Nagaland and Meghalaya have a 60-member House each but voting was held for 59 constituencies each in these states. While one candidate was declared elected unopposed in Nagaland, election in Meghalaya’s Williamnagar constituency was countermanded due to the killing of NCP candidate Jonathone N. Sangma in an IED blast on February 18.
In Meghalaya, over 18 lakh voters — more than 9 lakh women and 8.96 lakh Men — are registered in the 59 seats. In Nagaland, there are more than 11.91 lakh electors, of which 6.01 lakh are men and 5.89 are women.
Violence broke out during voting in Nagaland on Tuesday as supporters of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) and the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) clashed near a polling booth in Akuluto. The polling process, however, was not disturbed due to violence, police said.
In another incident, a blast was reported from a polling booth at Tizit village in Mon district about an hour before the voting started. Police said that one person was injured in the explosion.
Chief electoral officer Abhijit Sinha said, “A crude bomb was lobbed at the polling booth around 5.45 am, in which one village council member, Yanlon, suffered minor injuries in the leg.”
Elections in Nagaland this year were a triangular contest with the BJP entering into alliances with NDPP led by three-time chief minister Neiphiu Rio. A group of 10 parties in Nagaland had called for putting off elections till the conclusion of the peace talks in the militancy-hit state.
In Meghalaya, except for the two state parties — the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Hills State Peoples Democratic Party (HSPDP) — which forged a pre-poll alliance and contested in 45 seats, 13 other political parties contested independently.
The Congress and BJP were pitted against each other with the Congress fielding 59 candidates and the BJP naming candidates for 47 constituencies.
Though they contested the polls separately, in Meghalaya, the NPP of Conrad Sangma, son of former Lok Sabha speaker P. A. Sangma, is BJP’s partner in the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
