Poll campaigns picking up pace in Nagaland

Kohima, Feb 10: Various national, regional and local parties have been gearing up for the Nagaland Assembly elections, scheduled on March five, and the campaigns were gradually picking up pace with meetings, display of party flags and slogan-shouting youths in vehicles.

The Nagaland Peoples Front (NPF), the major coalition partner of the outgoing Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government, with their star campaigner former Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, had been organising campaigns at various areas of Kohima and Phek district.

The NPF has declared a list of 55 candidates for the 60-member Assembly elections and the list was likely to be the final one, as they had left five seats for their DAN coalition partner candidates.

The main rival of the NPF, the Congress was yet to kickstart its campaign, although some national leaders were expected to arrive in the state to campaign for their party.

The Congress has already declared its list of candidates for all the 60 seats of the Assembly constituencies.

One of the partners of the DAN coalition, the BJP, had also declared the list of its candidates for 24 seats throughout the state and it was likely to be the final list.

Meanwhile, the BJP was also yet to start their campaign, although national spokesman Rajiv Pratap Ruddy had informed that the party would bring star campaigners, including party president Rajnath Singh, Suishma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Vehkaiah Naidu, Hema Malini and Navjyot Singh Sidhu.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also declared a list of eight candidates and the Rastriya Janata Dal (RJD) declared seven candidates. The Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) also fielded two candidates.

Meanwhile, several veteran Congress leaders, including former Speaker Zoveho Lohe, had left the party and joined other parties following non-issuance of Congress tickets. Mr Lohe had already started campaigning for the NPF in Phek district.

UNI