Nagaland bye-election: NDPP, NPF lodge complaints against each other on polling day

Dimapur, Nov. 3 (EMN): Controversy erupted in the early hours of Tuesday at Jakhama Town-I polling station No. 12, which falls under 14-Southern Angami-I assembly constituency, as opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) accused the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) of breaking the election code of conduct even as the latter alleged that NPF workers were preventing genuine voters from casting their votes.

The two parties lodged separate complaints, later in the day, with their versions of the incident.

According to the NDPP, NPF party functionaries had forcefully restricted hundreds of voters from casting their votes by threatening and intimidating them. 

“On receiving the information, senior party leaders and elected representatives of the NDPP arrived at the said location to assess the situation and meet with the designated magistrates in charge. However, the supporters and workers of the NPF party forcefully evicted the NDPP leaders, hurling verbal abuses at them even though the leaders were well outside the perimeter of the polling station. While our leaders had not done anything to incite or create a situation, the NPF supporters had illegally made video recordings which have been made to go viral and at the same time verbally abused and evicted the leaders.

“Such malafide actions against respected leaders and elected members of the Assembly are punishable offences, especially the illegal videography. Therefore, since normal electioneering process is not being allowed to proceed, it is demanded that re-poll be declared at the particular polling station and the person who has illegally video recoded be booked under relevant cyber laws and necessary actions initiated against those persons,” the party stated in its letter to the deputy commissioner of Kohima.

On the other hand, the NPF stated that in the early hours of polling day, some of the top NDPP workers led by his working president Alemtemshi Jamir had gone to Jakhama “with an intention to disturb the peaceful environment of polling process, which was followed by Pukhai, Advisor to the government of Nagaland”.

Later, another Advisor, Zhaleo Rio “went to Jakhama town with unidentified youths who are not an electorate of the 14-Southern Angami-I A/C ”, it stated.

“The intention of the Advisor was actually to disturb the peaceful polling process. The ill motive of the NDPP is thoroughly exposed as some of their party officials including the elected members are indulging in creating chaos and commotion in the electioneering process,” the party claimed.

It stated that no elected members from other assembly constituencies are allowed to enter the ‘parameter of any other assembly constituency on polling day’.

However, the NDPP legislators had violated the election code of conduct and visited 14-Southern Angami-I, it pointed out.

“As such, when the said elected members themselves have violated the election code of conduct instead of demanding for re-poll, the said members should be dealt strictly with the provisions of law,” it stated.