Category: NAGALAND

• KOHIMA
• Dimapur

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Monday expressed his hope that the Naga political dialogue would soon end with a positive solution. Eight other Naga armed groups a few years back came together under the banner of NNPG.

More than 57.06 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 1 p.m. on Monday in the Nagaland Assembly polls, currently underway in 59 of the 60 Assembly constituencies amid tight security, election officials said.

Nearly 13 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 a.m. on Monday in the Nagaland Assembly polls currently underway in 59 of the 60 constituencies amid tight security, election officials said.

BJP candidate Kazheto Kinimi was re-elected unopposed from the Akuluto Assembly constituency after his only opponent and Congress nominee Khekashe Sumi withdrew his candidature on the last day of the withdrawal of nominations on February 10.

The campaign for the February 27 Nagaland assembly election came to an end on Saturday. The voting would be held in 59 of the 60 assembly constituencies in 16 districts amid a thick security cover on Monday.

Addressing his first election rally in Nagaland's Agri Expo Center Ground in Dimapur, the Prime Minister said that a large number of cadres of various militant outfits surrendered and joined the mainstream to ensure peace in Nagaland.

After tightening security along the over 200-km-long unfenced India-Myanmar border in Nagaland, the state's borders with Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh would be sealed on Saturday ahead of the February 27 Assembly polls.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that the Central government has made a promise to the people of Nagaland that it is committed to finding an early solution to the decades-old Naga political issue.

The NDPP and the BJP had contested the 2018 elections with a 40:20 seat-sharing formula and the alliance partners in July last year have decided to continue with the same understanding.

The Home Minister is likely to meet a few ENPO leaders as well on Tuesday. He will arrive Tuensang -- another key political and administrative hub in Eastern Nagaland -- the next day and then leave for Shillong, sources said.

Nadda promised that the Eastern Nagaland Development Board would be set up for the holistic development of the region and a special package for the development of Eastern Nagaland would be given.

BJP President J.P. Nadda will release election manifestos for poll-bound Nagaland and Meghalaya on his two-day visit to the states starting February 14, the party's media head Anil Baluni said on Monday.

Authorities in Nagaland, as part of their ongoing pre-poll raids against drugs, arms peddling and illegal financial transactions, have seized contraband and cash, valued at around Rs 37 crore, since the announcement of the Assembly polls on January 18, officials said on Monday.

Tuesday was the last day for filing nomination papers.Election officials said that the nomination papers and other documents would be examined on Wednesday and the last date of withdrawal of candidatures is February 10.

In January, the Eastern Nagaland Legislators' Union (ENLU), comprising Ministers, MLAs and Advisors to various departments, announced that it has decided to participate in the elections.

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the dominant party of the all party United Democratic Alliance (UDA) government, on Thursday announced its candidates' list of 40 nominees including two women, dropping 15 sitting MLAs.

According to the notification, the last date of filing of nominations in both states is February 7 and the scrutiny of papers and relevant documents would be done the next day. The last date of withdrawal of the candidatures is February 10.

Kigwema village in Nagalands Kohima district still carries the legacy of the Second World War (1939-45) as Japanese soldiers were stationed in the mountainous village during the war and fought the Battle of Kohima.

Three years before Indias Independence, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the nationalist iconic leader of the freedom movement against British rule, not only set foot in northeast India but also boosted the struggle against the British Raj.

The Konyak Union, a key group of Konyak tribe in Mon district in Eastern Nagaland, on Wednesday threatened to "permanently expel" those individuals filing nominations to participate in the ensuing assembly elections.

The weeklong 'Iconic Events' being organised across the country began on Tuesday at the Indian National Army (INA) memorial in Manipur's Moirang to pay tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, whose 126th birth anniversary would be celebrated on January 23.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday said that his government would not allow any constitutional crisis caused due to the civil society being adamant on not participating in the forthcoming Assembly election in the event that the Naga political issue remained unresolved.

The schedule for the assembly election in three northeastern states -- Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya -- is likely to be announced by January 19 by the Election Commission in Delhi, officials said on Monday.

Despite the non settlement of many issues including the Naga political imbroglio and demand for a separate state besides anti-incumbency, the ruling parties might not face a major challenge in the upcoming assembly polls due to the absence of a strong political opposition.

According to political pundits, a huge trust deficit between Ravi, the state government and the Naga groups specially the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) led to the former IPS officer's exit from the state.