ECI Announces 2023 Assembly Elections Dates; Tripura Polls on Feb 16, Meghalaya & Nagaland Elections on February 27

New Delhi: Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday announced the schedule of elections in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland. According to ECI, voting for Assembly elections in Tripura will be held on February 16, whereas, Nagaland & Meghalaya will go to poll on February 27 and results will be declared on March 2.

Over 13.9 lakh voters are registered in Nagaland, according to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, who also noted that over 30,000 first-time voters plan to cast ballots in the upcoming state Assembly elections.

Teams from the ECI led by Chief Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel visited Nagaland and Tripura last week to assess election readiness.

Tripura Legislative Assembly Elections

In Tripura, where the BJP has altered the CM face to combat anti-incumbency, a four-cornered contest is anticipated between the BJP, Congress, Left, and Trinamool Congress. In 2018, the saffron party won 35 seats and ousted Manik Sarkar, the CPI’s 20-year incumbent chief executive (M).

In the most recent assembly elections held in the state, tribals enjoyed a majority in 20 of the 60 seats. The BJP won 33 seats in the 2018 Tripura legislative assembly election, followed by the IPFT with four seats, the CPI(M) with fifteen seats, and the Congress with one.

Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Elections

Conrad Sangma served as the CM with the National People’s Party and BJP joining forces to form the government in Meghalaya, however, the Congress in the 2018 assembly election with 21 seats.

The Congress won 21 seats in the 2018 Meghalaya assembly elections, followed by the National People’s Party with 19, the United Democratic Party with 6, the People’s Democratic Front with 4, Independents with 3, the BJP with 2, the Hill State People’s Democratic Party with 1, and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement with 1.

Nagaland Legislative Assembly Elections 

In Nagaland, where the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)-BJP alliance is in power, tribal groups’ demand for a breakaway state called “Frontier Nagaland” is anticipated to be a key issue in the elections. NPF was the single-largest party in 2018, but the NDPP-BJP coalition created a government with the help of other parties.

Naga People’s Front won 26 seats in the 2018 Nagaland Legislative Assembly elections, followed by the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (18 seats), Bharatiya Janata Party (12 seats), National People’s Party (2 seats), JD-U (1 seat), and Independent (1 seat).