TIL Desk/National/Shillong/ Voting in the crucial Meghalaya and Nagaland Assembly elections began on Tuesday at 7 am amid tight security, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress slugging it out to see who would emerge as the more dominant party in the Northeast. Despite security being beefed up, one person was injured in a bomb blast at a polling station in Mon District’s Tizit in Nagaland.
According to the Election Commission, 22 per cent voting was recorded in Meghalaya till 9:30 am. While 17 per cent voting was recorded in Nagaland till 9 am. Nagaland CM TR Zeliang has said that he will move towards a Naga political solution after the state polls are concluded.
The two states have a 60-member House each. However, voting will be held only for 59 constituencies in each. Voting for the 60-member Assemblies will commence from 7 am and conclude by 4 pm, except at some polling stations in Nagaland’s interior districts where the process is scheduled to be completed at 3 pm.
Encouraged by the formation of governments in Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making a determined bid to expand its footprint in the Northeast. Meanwhile, the Assembly election’s outcome in Meghalaya is particularly significant for the Congress, which has been ruling the state for the past 10 years. The results of the polls in the two states, along with that of Tripura, will be declared on Saturday, March 3.
