Poll Dates For Meghalaya, Tripura And Nagaland To Be Announced Today

New Delhi:  Poll dates for the northeastern states of Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland will be announced by the Election Commission this afternoon.

A team of the top poll body visited the three states recently.

Reports suggest polling is likely to be in one phase and the votes will also be counted on a single day.

Tripura, ruled by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's Left Front, has to elect a new assembly by March 6. The terms of the Meghalaya and Nagaland assemblies end on March 13 and 14.

Mukul Sangma's Congress government rules Meghalaya and in Nagaland, the Naga People's Front-led Democratic Alliance, backed by the BJP, is in power with TR Zeliang as Chief Minister. The Nagaland government had asked for the election to be put off until there is a solution to the insurgency in the state.

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Polls to five more states are due this year - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.

These elections are seen as critical ahead of the national polls next year.