Brisk polling in Nagaland

Kohima  :  Polling was in “full swing” Saturday for the 60-member Nagaland assembly that began on a peaceful note, an official said.

People came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise when ballotting began at 7 a.m.

“Polling is on in full swing in almost all the polling stations of the state. All the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are working properly and there is no reports of any incident from anywhere so far,” Joint Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland N. Moa Aier told IANS.

“It is difficult to say the exact polling percentage at this moment as we are still collecting reports from various polling stations. However, there is good turnout almost everywhere,” he said.

Nagaland has a total of 1,193,438 electorate, including 589,505 women.

The election officials are using a 2,600 EVMs to conduct the polls in 2,023 polling stations across the state.

A total of 188 candidates, including only two women, are in the fray to get elected to the 60-member Nagaland assembly. Forty-nine of the 60 outgoing legislators are seeking re-election.

The ruling NPF has fielded candidates in all 60 seats while the main opposition Congress has put up candidates in 57 assembly constituencies. One third of the 60 constituencies will witness straight fights between the NPF and Congress.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which won two seats in 2008, has fielded 11 candidates this time. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which has two members in the outgoing assembly, has 15 contenders.

According to the election officials, over 26,000 security personnel including 225 companies of central paramilitary forces and the state police have been deployed across the state for smooth conduct of elections in Nagaland.