Nagaland ULB Polls: 523 contestants in fray; 64 elected unopposed

June 20, 2024 14 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur/Kohima | June 20

A total of 523 intending candidates remain in the fray for the upcoming elections to urban local bodies scheduled across Nagaland on June 26.

The list of contesting candidates provided by the State Election Commission (SEC) on June 19 informed that the highest number of aspirants are from Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) with 56 candidates.

There are 23 wards under DMC, and candidates from two wards (Ward 5 and 15) have been deemed elected unopposed. It is followed by 35 candidates under Kohima Municipal Council (KMC), where contestants from five wards (1, 2, 8, 11, & 15) have been declared elected unopposed out of 19 wards.

64 wards uncontested

Meanwhile, the SEC informed that there were 64 wards with only one contender and thus declared elected unopposed in the civic polls. The highest number was from Chiephobozou Town Council, where all candidates from 9 wards were declared uncontested. It was followed by six for Tuli Town Council and five each for KMC and Mokokchung Town Council.

Party-wise, out of the 64 uncontested candidates, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) had the highest at 45, while its alliance partner in the State Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had 7. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) followed next with 5, while the Indian National Congress was at 3. There were 2 candidates each from the Naga People’s Front and Independent candidates respectively.

At present, there are 3 Municipal Councils and 36 Town Councils in Nagaland.

However, all the 61 intending candidates in ULBs located in Eastern Nagaland have withdrawn their nominations in response to a poll abstention call by the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation, thus virtually ruling out any electoral exercise in six districts in the region.

Across the state, a total of 79 intending candidates have pulled out of the race from the initial 669 as of June 11.

Nagaland’s first civic polls after two decades will be held on June 26.