No candidate files nomination in Nagaland, BJP to contest elections

No candidate filed papers for the February 27 Nagaland Assembly election on Thursday, the second day of nomination filing.

No candidate -- of any political party or Independent -- had filed nominations over the last two days, additional chief electoral officer of Nagaland N Moa Aier said.

The process of filing nominations opened following the issuance of the official notification by the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday.

The last date for nomination filing is February 7.

Asked if the political parties were collecting the nomination papers, the additional CEO said the intending candidates were collecting the forms from the respective returning officer and district election officer’s chambers, while the documents could also be downloaded from the internet.

A 12-hour bandh was called in the state by the Core Committee of Nagaland Tribal Hohos and Civil Organisations (CCNTHCO) today to protest the issuance of the official notification for the Assembly election.

The bandh evoked a mixed response from the tribal bodies.

The CCNTHCO has appealed for a solution to the Naga political problem before the polls.

Upholding the January 29 joint declaration of not taking part in the election, no political party in the state has issued tickets to any candidate.

However, the BJP on Thursday announced that it would contest the polls.

“In a significant development today, a BJP Nagaland delegation led by state president Visasolie Lhonugu met BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, in-charge for Northeast BJP election affairs, in New Delhi,” BJP’s state media cell convener, K James Vizo, said in a statement.

“The general secretary is authorised by the BJP high command to discuss and sort the matters pertaining to the Nagaland state BJP election affairs,” he said, adding that the state team has apprised the central leaders about the present political situations in Nagaland.

The BJP’s decision comes three days after after it signed the joint declaration by all political parties, both national and regional, on January 29 in the state not to contest the elections in solidarity with the general call of the Naga tribal organisations and civil societies. But the BJP backed out the next day stating that the final call on the election issue would be taken by its central leaders.

The spokesperson of the ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF), Achumbemo Kikon, said the party stood by the general call of the Naga people for a solution to the Naga political issue before the election and therefore, poll tickets were not being distributed at the moment.

Nagaland JD(U) chief Senchumo NSN Lotha, while reiterating the party’s stand on a solution to the issue before the election, said they were contemplating not to enter into a pre-poll alliance with any other party.

“The party is in the process of considering the merits and demerits of its alliance with the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) for the last five years,” he said, while maintaining that the state unit was empowered to take a decision on the matter, after carefully analysing the people’s reaction towards the half-a-decade of governance of the DAN.

A decision as regards the continuance of the alliance or estrangement with the DAN was at its final stage and could be announced in a day or two, Lotha said.

Nonetheless, the JD(U) has called upon all the political parties in the state to respect the sentiments and the unanimous call of the Naga people.

Lotha reaffirmed that the JD(U) “shall not be the first to issue tickets to the aspirants”.

The Congress and the Nationalist Democratic People’s Party have said they would to join the election process if the other parties did so.