SHILLONG, Feb 25 (PTI): The high-decibel campaign for the elections to the 59 assembly seats in Meghalaya ended on Saturday. The polling will be held on February 27 and the votes will be counted on March 2.
“The campaign ended at 4 pm without any major law and order issues. The poll machinery is geared to conduct free, fair and peaceful elections on February 27. A total of 369 candidates are in the fray,” chief electoral officer FR Kharkongor told PTI.
Polling will take place in 3,419 booths, of which 640 have been identified as vulnerable. A total of 323 booths have been identified as critical while 84 booths are both critical and vulnerable, he said.
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A total of 119 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed across the state for the elections, he added.
Fifty-three observers – 20 general observers, 21 expenditure observers and 12 police observers – are on the job to ensure that the elections are free, fair and peaceful, Kharkongor said.
Adequate security measures have been ensured across the state, and the 443-km-long border with Bangladesh has been closed to avoid any law and order problem, a senior police officer said.
Chief minister Conrad Sangma’s NPP is looking to get another term in the state, while the opposition TMC led by former CM Mukul Sangma went all guns blazing to wrestle power.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee campaigned for the elections, hoping to seize power in the northeastern state where the TMC overnight became the main opposition a year back after inducting most of the Congress MLAs, including Sangma.
The BJP is hopeful of improving its tally this time, fighting the elections on its own after running the government for the last five years as part of the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, party chief JP Nadda and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma led the BJP’s campaign in the state.
The Congress, which lost all of its MLAs to other parties in the run-up to the elections, is hopeful of reversing its fortunes with the fresh faces it fielded for the poll battle. Senior party leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in Shillong, promising to protect the culture, languages and traditions of the northeastern state.
Newly-floated Voice of the People Party (VPP), led by activist Ardent Basaiawmoit, is also in the fray, hoping to prove itself as an alternative.
The Meghalaya assembly has 60 seats, but polling for the Sohiong constituency in East Khasi Hills district was postponed due to the death of UDP candidate HDR Lyngdoh.
The ruling NPP is fighting the elections on 57 seats, the Congress and BJP are contesting all the seats, while the TMC has fielded candidates in 58 seats. The United Democratic Party (UDP) is contesting the elections on 46 seats, the VPP on 18 seats, and the HSDP on 11 seats.
A PTI report from Kohima adds: Public meetings, roadshows and door-to-door visits formed part of the Nagaland Assembly election campaigning that ended in the northeastern state on Saturday evening.
Over 13 lakh people are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the electoral fate of 183 candidates, including four women and 19 independents, in 59 out of a total of 60 seats.
The Akuluto seat in Zunheboto district has been won uncontested by BJP nominee and sitting MLA Kazheto Kinimi.
Polling will be held from 7 am to 4 pm on February 27 while counting of votes will be taken up on March 2.
The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and BJP are contesting the polls on a 40:20 seat-sharing basis.
The NDPP had allied with the BJP and formed the government in the northeastern state in 2018, with backing from the JD(U) and an Independent. In 2021, the Naga People’s Front (NPF) joined the ruling NDPP-led alliance to form an all-party government named United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
The NDPP-BJP is seeking a mandate for the second term with Neiphiu Rio of the NDPP as the chief ministerial candidate for the alliance.
The high-voltage campaign by the BJP saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda, Union ministers Sarbananda Sonowal, Kiren Rijiju, John Barla, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other leaders of the saffron party addressing public rallies.
NDPP campaigners, headed by chief minister Neiphiu Rio, also reached out to almost all the constituencies.
The NPF which won 26 seats in the last Assembly polls has fielded candidates in 22 seats but one of them withdrew on Friday leaving 21 in the fray.
NPF leader Kuzholuzo Nienu has declared he is open to post-poll arrangements with other parties and candidates.
Congress, which ruled the state till 2003 and does not have any member in the current House, has fielded 23 aspirants.
The grand old party asserted it would not align with the BJP to form the next government but would join any like-minded secular front.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed an election rally in Dimapur while party MP Shashi Tharoor addressed a rally in Kohima.
National People’s Party (NPP) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have fielded 12 candidates each.
Newbie in Nagaland politics, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has put up as many as 16 candidates while the Republican Party of India (Athawale) has fielded eight aspirants.
Others include the Janata Dal (United) – 7, Rashtriya Janata Dal – 3, CPI and the Rising People’s Party – 1 each.
