Meghalaya Nagaland Voting: 118 seats, more than 550 candidates.. Know A to Z before voting in Meghalaya, Nagaland

Meghalaya Nagaland Assembly Elections 2023: The counting of votes has begun for the assembly elections in the two northeastern states of Meghalaya and Nagaland. The stage is set for this festival of democracy. A few hours later (on Monday, February 27) the voters of both the states will press the EVM button to decide the fate of the candidates.

Including both the states, voting will be held for a total of 118 assembly constituencies. Votes will be cast for 59 seats in Meghalaya and the same number of seats in Nagaland. Including both the states, more than 550 candidates are in the fray. The counting of votes for Meghalaya, Nagaland and another state Tripura will take place on March 2. Let us know the A to Z of the Meghalaya-Nagaland assembly elections.

Meghalaya Assembly Elections 2023

This time in Meghalaya, all the parties have decided to contest the elections alone. Unlike 2018, this time BJP and National People's Party (NPP) have not made any pre-poll alliance. Polling in Sohiong seat was postponed due to the death of former Meghalaya minister and United Democratic Party (UDP) candidate HDR Lyngdoh. That's why voting will be held on 59 out of 60 seats.

This time BJP and Congress have fielded candidates on all the seats in the state while NPP is contesting on 57 seats. Trinamool Congress (TMC) has fielded candidates on 58 seats in the state. In 2021, TMC became the main opposition party in Meghalaya. Then 12 Congress MLAs had joined TMC. Especially after former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma joined it, TMC's strength increased.

On the other hand, in the 2018 assembly elections, BJP contested only on two seats. The maximum number of 21 candidates were fielded by the Congress. NPP contested 20 candidates and UDP 6 candidates.

Major issues of Meghalaya

The ruling National People's Party (NPP) is trying to return to power, but experts believe that the party may have to face an anti-incumbency wave this time.
Lack of infrastructure development in remote and hilly areas is one of the major election issues this time.
Allegations of corruption are haunting the NPP government.
Illegal coal mining is also a big issue in Jaintia and Khasi Hills, which can affect the election results.
Unemployment is a big issue. All parties have promised to create jobs and employment opportunities in their manifestos.
Inner Line Permit (ILP) has been a long standing demand in Meghalaya. NPP has surrounded BJP on this issue.
An Inner Line Permit is an official travel document issued by a state government to allow inward travel of a national into a protected area for a limited period of time.

Nagaland Assembly Election 2023

In Nagaland, the main contest between the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the BJP is with the former ruling party of the state, the Naga People's Front (NPF). Polling will be held on 59 of the state's 60 seats as BJP candidate Kajeto Kinimi won unopposed from Akuluto constituency. This became possible after his rival decided to pull out of the race. BJP is in fray here with 20 candidates and NDPP with 40 candidates. NPF is contesting on 22 and Congress on 23 seats. Both the parties are in the fray with the idea of a post-poll alliance.

major issues of nagaland

The demand for creating a separate state in Nagaland has been rising for years. Earlier, the Eastern Nagaland People's Organization (ENPO) had given a call to boycott the elections till their demands were met.
The ENPO demanded the Center to create a separate state 'Frontier Nagaland', comprising six districts of eastern Nagaland - Tuensang, Mon, Shamtor, Kiphire, Noklak and Longleng.
A larger firm of seven insurgent groups comprising the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) and the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) in the state on January 14 jointly signed a resolution to settle the rights of the Nagas on the basis of agreements signed with the central government. announced his commitment to
In 2015, the NSCN (IM) and the Center signed the Nagaland Framework of Agreement specifically to resolve the Naga political issue, while in 2017 the Naga National Political Groups reached an 'agreed position' with the Centre. signed. Then the Center had said that it would sign a single peace accord with all the rebel groups. Since then it has been a major issue in the state and was raised loudly by the Congress in the recent election campaigns.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is in force in the state and it is a big issue. In March last year, Home Minister Amit Shah announced the removal of AFSPA in several districts of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland, but in October 2022, the Center decided to extend it for six more months in parts of Arunachal and Nagaland. AFSPA is applicable in entire Nagaland since 1995.
Corruption has emerged as another major issue in Nagaland before the assembly elections. The Nagaland Congress has vowed to end corruption if voted to power, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi , during his election campaign, accused the Congress of using the Northeast as its ATM, neglecting the development of the region.

Important statistics of Meghalaya elections

In Meghalaya, votes will be cast at 3,419 polling stations in 59 assembly constituencies. The polling will start at 7 in the morning and will continue till 4 in the evening.
Of the 60 assembly constituencies in Meghalaya, 36 constituencies fall in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region while 24 fall in the Garo Hills region.
Meghalaya has more than 21 lakh voters (total 21,75,236), out of which 10.99 lakh are women and 10.68 lakh are men.
The number of women voters is more than that of men. At the same time, the number of voters going to vote for the first time is about 81,000.
A total of 369 candidates are in the fray in Meghalaya, including 36 women.
A total of 3,419 polling stations have been set up here, out of which 120 will be managed by women only. At the same time, 60 model 60 PWD polling stations have been set up.
Regarding security in Meghalaya, the Election Commission has deployed 119 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF).
Meghalaya's Chief Electoral Officer FR Kharkongor has said that 640 polling stations have been identified as 'unsafe', 323 as 'sensitive' and 84 as both.

Nagaland election essential data

The number of eligible voters in Nagaland is more than 13 lakh (total 13,17,632), of which 6,61,489 are male and 6,56,143 are female. The number of male voters is more than that of women.
A total of 2,351 polling stations have been set up in Nagaland.
Merapani polling station number 71 under Bhandari assembly constituency in Wokha district has the least number of voters at 37.
According to the Election Commission, 305 companies of various security forces have been deployed at polling stations across the state to ensure smooth and fair polling process.