Nagaland civic polls: Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party wins all three municipal councils

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party on Saturday emerged victorious in the Nagaland civic body elections, winning all three municipal councils, PTI reported.

Elections for three municipal councils and 21 town councils across 10 districts were held on Wednesday. These were the first municipal elections in Nagaland in two decades, and the first ones conducted with 33% reservation for women.

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party won all three municipal councils of Kohima, Mokokchung and Dimapur. It also reportedly got a majority in most of the 21 town councils. The party could not secure a majority in the Wokha, Phek and Tuli town councils, and did not contest elections in Bhandari and Niuland, according to PTI.

The Naga People’s Front won the town councils of Bhandari and Phek.

A total of 523 candidates representing 11 political parties were in the fray. The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party fielded 178 candidates, the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded 44 and the Congress 37. Twenty-two candidates were in the fray from the National People's Party, 21 from the Naga People’s Front and 15 from the Nationalist Congress Party.

Delays in holding civic polls

The Nagaland government had tried to hold elections to urban local bodies several times in the past, but could not succeed in doing so because of objections from tribal organisations and civil society groups to women’s reservation and taxes on land and property.

While the state has 39 town councils, elections were not held on Wednesday in 14 of them as they are located in the six eastern districts where tribal bodies called for a boycott. The Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation, a body representing seven Naga tribes in these districts, has been demanding the creation of a separate state of “Frontier Nagaland” since 2010, and has claimed that the region has long been neglected.

Eastern Nagaland comprises six districts – Tuensang, Mon, Longleng, Kiphire, Noklak and Shamator – which are inhabited by seven Naga tribes: Konyak, Khiamniungan, Chang, Sangtam, Tikhir, Phom and Yimkhiung.

In the recently-concluded Lok Sabha election, these districts reported nearly zero voter turnout amid a shutdown call by the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation.