Nagaland bye-election: Walkover likely for NDPP

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Oct. 5 (EMN): It appears like the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) will get a walkover in the upcoming bye-election to the 58-Shamatore-Chessore  Assembly Constituency as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Naga People’s Front (NPF) have decided not to contest the poll. 

The bye-poll to the constituency left vacant by the death of NDPP legislator Toshi Wungtung, former Advisor to the department of IPR, SCERT and Village Guards, will be held on October 30 before the counting of votes on November 2.

The NDPP has not announced its candidate for the bye-election to the vacant seat earlier won by the party.

BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland, Y Patton on Tuesday made it clear that his party would stay away from the upcoming bye-election. He said that the party would stand by its pre-poll alliance that has been there since 2018 and ‘not disturb but rather support’ the NDPP.

NPF not to set up candidate

The Naga People’s Front (NPF) Working Committee (WC) has also unanimously adopted a resolution not to set up a candidate in the bye-poll to the 58-Shamator-Chessore Assembly Constituency at its emergency meeting held on Tuesday evening at the NPF Central Office.

This was informed by the secretary general of the party, Achumbemo Kikon.

He informed that the NPF had received a request letter from the NDPP on September 30, following which the two political parties had a meeting on Tuesday.

He said the party had set into motion, as early as August, by constituting a search committee within the party. He added that the committee had submitted its report to the central office and recommended the general secretary at Central office, Rukkimong, as its candidate to contest the bye-poll.

However, Kikon stated that the NDPP had appealed to support its candidate based on two reasons –the remainder of the tenure is barely one-and-a-half years and also to strengthen the all-party government.

He informed that the request was discussed at the party level and an emergency meeting of the working committee was held. After thorough deliberation, the resolution was passed to extend its support to the NDPP candidate, he added.