Nagaland Assembly polls: CM Neiphiu Rio casts vote in Kohima

KOHIMA: Nagaland Chief Minister and Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party candidate Neiphiu Rio cast his vote in the Kohima district in the ongoing Assembly polls in the state on Monday.

Rio is contesting from the Northern Angami-I seat in the Kohima district. He is up against Congress candidate Seyievilie Chachu for the seat.

Earlier today, Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Yanthungo Patton cast his vote from Riphyim Old III, 37 Tyui. The polling began in 59 Assembly constituencies at 7 am this morning amid tight security. The polling will continue till 4 pm.

The polls would seal the electoral fates of 183 candidates across parties. The voting is underway in 59 out of 60 Assembly constituencies, as BJP candidate Kazheto Kinimi was declared winner uncontested from Zunheboto district's Akuluto constituency after his opponent from the Congress, N Khekashe Sumi, pulled out of the race on the last day for withdrawal of nominations, which was February 10.

In Monday's polls, the BJP is contesting in alliance with the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), its old alliance partner in the 2018 Assembly polls as well.

The BJP is, however, having the role of a junior partner, having agreed to a seat-sharing ratio of 20:40 in the state. The Congress and Naga People's Front are contesting in 23 and 22 seats respectively.

The CPI is contesting on 1, NCP on 12, NPP 12, RPP 1, JD(U) 7, LJP (Ram Vilas) 15, RPI (Athawale) 9, RJD 3, and Independents 19 seats. The party had forged an alliance with the NDPP in 2018 and had successfully formed an alliance government with the backing of Janata Dal (United) and an Independent.

The BJP had won 12 seats while NDPP had registered a win on the 17 seats, while the JD(U) clinched 1 seat. There are a total of 13,17,632 electorate in Nagaland, of which 6,61,489 are men and 6,56,143 are women. A total of 2,351 polling stations have been set up in the state.

According to the Election Commission, 305 companies from various security forces have been deployed at the polling stations across the state to ensure a smooth and fair voting process.

The counting of votes will take place on March 2 along with Tripura and Meghalaya.