BJP-NDPP Alliance Set to Win Nagaland Assembly Elections 2018, Neiphiu Rio Likely to be Next Chief Minister
Neiphiu Rio, elected unopposed from Northern Angami II Assembly seat has been the three-time chief minister of Nagaland. He was declared the winner after his rival withdrew his nomination.
Kohima, March 3: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally- the National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) have extended gains in the northeastern state of Nagaland. As per early electoral trends, the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) and the BJP-Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) alliance fought a close contest in the state. The Naga People’s Front (NFP) has been in power in Nagaland since 2003 but now it is evident that BJP will emerge as the winning party in the state.
It must be noted that the as per the seat-sharing arrangement, NDPP was given 40 seats while BJP is in the fray in 20 seats. In Nagaland, a clear battle of votes was seen between Chief Minister TR Zeliang of the NPF and his predecessor Neiphiu Rio. Rio, who has been elected unopposed from his Northern Angami II Assembly seat has been the three-time chief minister of Nagaland. He was declared the winner after his rival withdrew his nomination.
To name a few, NDPP candidate CM Chang won from Noksen constituency while BJP candidate Yanthungo Patton gained victory from Tyui constituency. BJP candidate H Tovihoto Ayemi won from Dimapur - 1 while another BJP candidate Kashiho Sangtam won from 59 Kiphire constituency. Meanwhile, NDPP candidate Neikesalie Kire won from 9 Kohima Constituency in Nagaland.
The 67-year-old Rio also resigned from his Lok Sabha seat earlier this week. "Neiphiu Rio, an elected member of Lok Sabha from Nagaland parliamentary constituency of Nagaland, has resigned his seat in Lok Sabha and his resignation has been accepted by the Speaker with effect from February 22, 2018," an official notification said.
Just before the elections, the BJP broke ties with the National People's Party (NPF) and joined hands with NDPP, led by former chief minister Neiphiu Rio, who is the front-runner to become the chief minister. The Congress on the other hand, contested the polls alone this time.
Polling in Nagaland was held on 27 February 2018 in 59 out of 60 constituencies of the state. The counting of votes today will decide the fate of 195 candidates. Currently, Nagaland is under the leadership of Chief Minister TR Zeliang, who belongs to the Naga People's Front. It must be noted that the tenure of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly ends on March 13, 2018. The results for all the three northeastern states-Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland will be declared today. The PM Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as a strong contender in all the three northeast states.
The exit polls too predicted that BJP would consolidate its position in Nagaland and Meghalaya. To recall, in the last Assembly polls in 2013, NPF won 38 seats, while both the Congress and Independent candidates managed to bag 8 seats. BJP had won 1, JD (U) had won 1 seat while the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) won 4 seats.
While the saffron party has fielded 20 candidates, the Congress has given three chief ministers to Nagaland since the state's inception in 1963. As per CVoter survey predictions, a victory for the BJP-NDPP with the combine likely to get 25-31 seats with 38.4 per cent vote share. It predicted that the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) will bag 19-25 seats with a vote share of 27.1 per cent.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2018 03:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).