Polling officers carry an EVM after collecting it from a distribution centre ahead of polling at Nongpoh of Ri-Bhoi district in Meghalaya on Monday. Photo: PTI
New Delhi: Polling for both Nagaland and Meghalaya took place on Tuesday with official voting hours between 7 am and 4 pm. While Meghalaya clocked a turnout of 67%, Nagaland had a voter turnout of 75%.
“In Meghalaya, 67% voting was recorded. Large number of polling stations are still in queue and so we are expecting this number to rise,” Chandra Bhushan Kumar, deputy election commissioner, told reporters in a media briefing at Election Commission in New Delhi. In Meghalaya, women electorate outnumbered men.
“In Nagaland, till now the figures that have been received, 75% voting has taken place as of 4 pm but this figure is likely to go up,” Sudeep Jain, deputy election commissioner told reporters.
Polling in Nagaland saw “sporadic incidences” including throwing of a crude bomb which injured one person, another incident of firing took place with one person sustaining injury and in third incident EVMs in two polling stations were damaged.
To encourage more voter participation, “early voter medals” were given out for the first five voters in each polling station of Meghalaya.
Counting for all three states—Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland—will happen on 3 March and begins at 8 am. The terms of the assemblies in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura end on 6, 13 and 14 March, respectively. All the three states have 60 assembly constituencies each.
The three north-eastern states are crucial for both national as well as regional players. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to expand its political footprint in the north-east after forming governments in three states in the region—Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur— since 2014. The Congress is banking heavily on Meghalaya elections to retain its fast decreasing electoral dominance in the region.
For Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, the outcome of Tripura elections is significant because that’s the only state other than Kerala where the CPM-led Left Front is in power currently. For regional parties too, stakes are high, particularly in Meghalaya and Nagaland where they play a key role.
