News Analysis India

Tag: Assembly Elections

  • JP Nadda: BJP chief and Union Minister JP Nadda to be Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha

    BJP President and Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda will now also handle the important role of Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha. He succeeds Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who has now moved to the Lok Sabha as a representative of Mumbai North constituency.

    The decision to appoint Nadda, 63, as Leader of the House was expected since the Lok Sabha election results came out and Goyal quit his membership of the Upper House on June 10. Among the BJP members in the House, he qualifies on the basis of his experience and seniority.

    Nadda is into this third term in the Rajya Sabha. He entered the Upper House for the first time on April 3, 2012 from his home state Himachal Pradesh and was given a second term in 2018, again from HP. His current term began in April, 2024 when he was elected from Gujarat, putting at rest speculations that he may contest the Lok Sabha polls.Nadda is on extension as BJP chief, having completed his term last year. With his appointment as Leader of the House and responsibilities as Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, there is a likelihood of BJP choosing an acting party chief before a full-time President is elected in January 2025. The forthcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand later this year are a formidable challenge for the BJP as the Opposition has emerged stronger in these states after the Lok Sabha polls.

    It is not clear if Nadda will be asked to continue till January as BJP Chief or be replaced. He had himself stepped into the role of Working President of BJP in June, 2019 when Amit Shah quit the post to become Home Minister. Later he was duly elected as BJP Chief in January 2020.

    Nadda has vast political experience and has risen through the ranks in the BJP. Hailing from Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, the veteran leader served as a minister in the BJP government in the state in different portfolios- Health, Forest, Parliamentary Affairs and so on. He has also worked as national general secretary of the BJP.This is Nadda’s second stint in the union Health ministry. He held this portfolio from November 2014 to May 2019 in the first Narendra Modi government.As Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Nadda will play a crucial role in the NDA 3.0 government where the ruling coalition has a thin majority with 293 seats in the Lok Sabha. In the Upper House, BJP has 90 members in a House of 231. BJD and YSRCP, parties which used to extend issue-based support to BJP, have now turned against it in the changed political equations. The Opposition will make the going tough for the government in both Houses. The demand for sending Bills to the parliamentary committees for scrutiny and for holding discussions on current issues plaguing the country are set to increase.

    Nadda will have his hands full as Leader of the House while also juggling two important ministerial portfolios as well as the role of BJP Chief till the party finds a replacement.

  • Arunachal state Cong chief to continue in his post

    Former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, a day after resigning from the post of state Congress President, on Saturday said that he would continue to discharge his responsibilities in that post.

    According to him the party high command yet to accept his resignation letter.

    Tuki, also Congress MLA from the Sagalee assembly constituency, said that he had offered to resign from the post of PCC President on Friday because he is unable to assist those who intend to contest the upcoming assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and campaign for them as he would also be contesting the polls.“Hence, I thought I should resign from the post of state party President for the convenience for me and other possible candidates,”

    He dismissed media reports that he had quit from the post of state party President “on moral grounds” after the recent defection of three MLAs to the BJP.

    Tuki has been at the helm of the APCC for several years, overseeing the party’s strategies and engagements.Congress Legislature Party leader Lombo Tayeng, a six-time MLA from Mebo constituency in East Siang district, joined the BJP after the two other party legislators — Ninong Ering and Wanglin Lowangdong — also joined the BJP.After the three MLAs joining the BJP, Tuki is the lone legislator in 60-member Arunachal Pradesh assembly.

  • Arabinda Dhali: Odisha: Jayadev MLA Arabinda Dhali quits BJD, to join BJP

    Sitting MLA of Jayadev Assembly seat in Odisha, Arabinda Dhali resigned from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Saturday, ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha.

    Former state minister Dhali tendered his resignation to BJD Supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

    “I tender my resignation on the dated 01.03.2024 from the primary membership of Biju Janata Dal.You’re requested to kindly accept my resignation. This is for your information and necessary action,” he wrote in his resignation letter.Jayadev Assembly Seat is one of the 7 assembly segments of the Bhubaneswar Parliamentary Constituency.

    While speaking to ANI, Arabinda Dhali said on Saturday that,” I gave my resignation yesterday (01.03.2024) from the primary membership of Biju Janata Dal, sent my letter to honourable CM Naveen Patnaik, and decided to join the BJP. I was in the BJP earlier and now am returning to my home Party. I interact with several leaders of Odisha, including the state BJP president, all are given green signal to join the BJP party. I was inspired by the Honourable PM Modi’s work and Bharat is going to be Viswa Guru. The whole world is giving respect to Narendra Modi. I will dedicate the rest of my life to the BJP and work accordingly for the betterment of the people.”

    He said that he didn’t get the comfort of working in the BJD party, so he decided to join the BJP. He said that, along with him, two thousand workers would join the BJP.Arabinda Dhali is a five-term member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly and, his political career started with the BJP, and he represented Malkangiri in 1992, 1995 and 2000.Later, he joined BJD and successfully contested the Jayadev constituency in 2009 and 2019.

    He had also served as the Transport and Corporation Minister in the BJD-BJP alliance government (2000-2004).

    He left the BJP in April, 2006 with Rama Chandra Panda, a former Deputy Speaker of Odisha Legislative Assembly, and joined the Bharatiya Janshakti Party of Uma Bharatee . Then, in 2008, he joined the Samajwadi Party and later jumped ship and joined Biju Janata Dal.

    Recently, Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi and former Odisha minister Debasis Nayak have also joined the BJP.

  • BJP trying to woo BSP’s dalit vote bank in Uttar Pradesh

    BJP, which has been constantly working to expand its base among the SC voters, finds itself in an advantageous position with the waning hold of BSP, which once enjoyed considerable support among Dalits in the state. As of now, BSP has not aligned with any party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and has decided to go solo on all 80 seats in the state.

    BJP, which won 62 seats in the 2019 LS elections in UP, is eyeing to maximise its tally in the state by crossing 70. To achieve that goal, BSP vote bank becomes crucial for the party. SCs account for 20% of the state’s population and BSP has more or less managed to hold on to this vote bank. However, in the 2022 assembly elections, BSP lost its vote share from around 19.43% in 2019 Lok Sabha to 13%.

    BJP’s internal calculation is that in the absence of any alliance, most BSP voters are looking for options and the saffron party considers itself the most suitable party.”SC community has got maximum benefits from Modi government’s schemes. The government policies are formulated keeping in mind the welfare of the SC community,” Lal Singh Arya, BJP SC Morcha president told ET. “If you look at the recent assembly elections, SCs have voted for BJP in large numbers. Now, our job is to convince SC voters that BJP should be their natural and preferred choice.”

    Starting from Ravidas Jayanti on February 23, BJP SC Morcha will kickstart ‘Basti Sampark Abhiyan’ in different parts of the state. As part of the campaign, BJP leaders will visit nearby SC areas to discuss Modi government’s welfare schemes and present a future roadmap for the development of their localities. The PM will visit Varanasi to take part in Sant Ravidas Jayanti programme on February 23.

    A national convention of BJP SC Morcha will take place in Agra in March which will be attended by BJP SC leaders, Union ministers and leaders from other states. BJP president JP Nadda will make a special address during the meeting. Agra has been chosen considering the high concentration of SC voters in West UP, where BSP performed well in last LS polls.

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  • Winter Session: Winter Session: PM urges opposition to go ahead with positivity, learn from the defeat

    Ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged the opposition to go ahead with positivity, learn from the defeat and leave behind the tendency of negativity of the last nine years.

    “If I speak on the basis of the recent elections’ results, this is a golden opportunity for our colleagues sitting in the Opposition. Instead of taking out your anger of defeat in this session, if you go ahead with positivity and learn from the defeat and leave behind the tendency of negativity of the last 9 years, the country will change their point of view for them,” he said.

    The Prime Minister said that winter is delayed but political temperatures in the country are rising.The country has rejected “negativity”, said the Prime Minister after the BJP secured victory in three out of four states on Sunday. AllMadhya PradeshRajasthanTelanganaChhattisgarhMizoram”Yesterday, the results of the four-state elections came out. The results are very encouraging – encouraging for those who are committed to the welfare of the common people of the country and to the bright future of the country,” said PM Modi.”I have been urging for your (Opposition) cooperation in the House. Today, I also speak politically – it is beneficial for you too if you give a message of positivity to the country. It is not right for democracy if your image becomes that of hatred and negativity. Opposition is equally important for democracy, it should be equally capable,” said the PM.Before the commencement of the session, we hold discussions with our colleagues in the Opposition, he said. “We urge and pray for the cooperation of everyone. This time too, the process has been undertaken. I also urge all our MPs that this temple of democracy is essential for public aspiration and to strengthen the foundation of developed India,” he added.

  • TPCC chief Revanth Reddy, CLP leader Bhatti in first list of Congress candidates for assembly polls

    By PTI

    HYDERABAD: Telangana PCC president Revanth Reddy, Congress legislative party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, former ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, T Jeevan Reddy and Duddilla Sridhar Babu are among those figured in the first 55 contestants list released by AICC for the state assembly polls to be held on November 30.

    The Congress on Sunday announced its first list of party candidates for the Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana assembly elections.

    While the party announced 144 party candidates for Madhya Pradesh, it announced 30 candidates for Chhattisgarh and 55 for Telangana.

    Thumkunta Narsa Reddy was given Gajwel constituency where BRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao would be contesting.

    Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy are currently Lok Sabha members representing the Malkajgiri and Nalgonda constituencies respectively.

    Former PCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy’s wife Padmavathi Reddy is being fielded from the Kodad segment.

    The PCC president will be contesting from Kodangala and Uttam Kumar Reddy from the Huzurnagar assembly constituency.

    Revath Reddy unsuccessfully contested from Kodangala during the 2018 assembly elections and was later elected from the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha segment.

    Sitting BRS MLA Mynapally Hanumathrao, who switched over to Congress a few days ago, was given the Malkajgiri seat.

    His son Rohit Rao would contest from Medak assembly constituency. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

    HYDERABAD: Telangana PCC president Revanth Reddy, Congress legislative party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, former ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, T Jeevan Reddy and Duddilla Sridhar Babu are among those figured in the first 55 contestants list released by AICC for the state assembly polls to be held on November 30.

    The Congress on Sunday announced its first list of party candidates for the Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana assembly elections.

    While the party announced 144 party candidates for Madhya Pradesh, it announced 30 candidates for Chhattisgarh and 55 for Telangana.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Thumkunta Narsa Reddy was given Gajwel constituency where BRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao would be contesting.

    Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy are currently Lok Sabha members representing the Malkajgiri and Nalgonda constituencies respectively.

    Former PCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy’s wife Padmavathi Reddy is being fielded from the Kodad segment.

    The PCC president will be contesting from Kodangala and Uttam Kumar Reddy from the Huzurnagar assembly constituency.

    Revath Reddy unsuccessfully contested from Kodangala during the 2018 assembly elections and was later elected from the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha segment.

    Sitting BRS MLA Mynapally Hanumathrao, who switched over to Congress a few days ago, was given the Malkajgiri seat.

    His son Rohit Rao would contest from Medak assembly constituency. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

  • MP BJP to go into 2023 Assembly polls with ‘Abki baar, 200 paar’ slogan, eyes 51 per cent vote share

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Buoyed by the party’s resounding victory in Gujarat, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh has come up with ‘Abki baar, 200 paar’ slogan for the next year’s Assembly elections, setting the ambitious target of winning more than 200 seats in the 230-member House.

    The saffron party, which has been in power in Madhya Pradesh for almost 20 years, also aims to garner 51 per cent votes in the polls that are due by the end of 2023.

    “The party is setting the target of bagging 51 per cent vote share and winning more than 200 seats in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls next year,” state BJP chief V D Sharma told reporters on Saturday after emerging from the party’s executive committee meeting in Katni district of the state.

    “Abki baar, 200 paar” (this elections, more than 200 seats), he said, adding that the party had received 53 per cent votes in Gujarat and rewritten history in that state with the landslide victory.

    The BJP won 156 seats out of 182 seats in Gujarat, where elections were held on December 1 and 5, and broke the Congress’s 1985 record in that state – when Madhavsinh Solanki won 149 seats.

    At the meeting, where MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other leaders were present, the party resolved to win more than 200 seats.

    After 15 years in power, the BJP had lost the 2018 Assembly polls in MP, paving the way for the Congress to form a government under the leadership of Kamal Nath with the help of elected independents, MLAs from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

    However, a rebellion by nearly two dozen Congress MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, a Union minister who is now in the BJP, led to the collapse of the Nath government in March 2020.

    The BJP subsequently formed its government under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

    “In the last Assembly polls in MP, the Congress and independent candidates backed by it together won 114 seats, while the BJP had to be content with 107 seats,” senior journalist and political analyst Rakesh Dixit told PTI.

    “In 2018, the saffron party garnered 41. 02 per cent votes, while the Congress managed to cobble up 40.89 per cent votes. The BJP had to sit in the opposition for 15 months until 22 Congress MLAs mostly loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia rebelled, paving the way for the return of the saffron party to power in MP,” he added.

    BHOPAL: Buoyed by the party’s resounding victory in Gujarat, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh has come up with ‘Abki baar, 200 paar’ slogan for the next year’s Assembly elections, setting the ambitious target of winning more than 200 seats in the 230-member House.

    The saffron party, which has been in power in Madhya Pradesh for almost 20 years, also aims to garner 51 per cent votes in the polls that are due by the end of 2023.

    “The party is setting the target of bagging 51 per cent vote share and winning more than 200 seats in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls next year,” state BJP chief V D Sharma told reporters on Saturday after emerging from the party’s executive committee meeting in Katni district of the state.

    “Abki baar, 200 paar” (this elections, more than 200 seats), he said, adding that the party had received 53 per cent votes in Gujarat and rewritten history in that state with the landslide victory.

    The BJP won 156 seats out of 182 seats in Gujarat, where elections were held on December 1 and 5, and broke the Congress’s 1985 record in that state – when Madhavsinh Solanki won 149 seats.

    At the meeting, where MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other leaders were present, the party resolved to win more than 200 seats.

    After 15 years in power, the BJP had lost the 2018 Assembly polls in MP, paving the way for the Congress to form a government under the leadership of Kamal Nath with the help of elected independents, MLAs from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

    However, a rebellion by nearly two dozen Congress MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, a Union minister who is now in the BJP, led to the collapse of the Nath government in March 2020.

    The BJP subsequently formed its government under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

    “In the last Assembly polls in MP, the Congress and independent candidates backed by it together won 114 seats, while the BJP had to be content with 107 seats,” senior journalist and political analyst Rakesh Dixit told PTI.

    “In 2018, the saffron party garnered 41. 02 per cent votes, while the Congress managed to cobble up 40.89 per cent votes. The BJP had to sit in the opposition for 15 months until 22 Congress MLAs mostly loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia rebelled, paving the way for the return of the saffron party to power in MP,” he added.

  • Congress has a mountain to climb ahead of elections in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: The upcoming elections in three states of the Northeast will be a battle for survival for the Congress which once ruled the entire region but has now gotten reduced to a shadow of its glorious past. The Congress’ slide in the Northeast began after the BJP’s emergence as a powerhouse in 2014.

    Simultaneous elections in the 60-member Assemblies of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura are expected in February.

    As it appears now, the Congress is not in the race to power in any of these states. It lacks leaders after many of them embraced the ruling party and other parties over a period of time.

    The Congress does not have a single MLA in Nagaland, just one in Tripura and one in Meghalaya.

    However, the five in Meghalaya were suspended earlier this year by the party’s central leadership for cosying up to the Conrad K Sangma government.

    The Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the 2018 Meghalaya Assembly elections but the National People’s Party (NPP)-led motley alliance formed the government. 

    In November last year, 12 of 17 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya, led by former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, jumped ship to wear Trinamool Congress (TMC) colours. Their desertion relegated the grand old party to a more minor party and made the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC the state’s principal Opposition party overnight. TMC had no base in the state prior to that.

    Shillong MP H Pala is now Congress’s lone prominent face in the Christian-majority state. The Congress will not, perhaps, have a single MLA by the time it goes to elections as the five suspended legislators have more or less ditched the party and are likely to contest the polls on the tickets of other political parties.

    ALSO READ | Four Meghalaya MLAs join BJP ahead of upcoming elections

    In Tripura, Sudip Roy Barman is the Congress’ only MLA. He had won the last election on the BJP’s ticket and was inducted into the ministry but he resigned from the Assembly and the party in February this year after falling out with the then-Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. Later, he won a by-election, necessitated by his resignation.

    The Congress had failed to win a single seat in the 2018 Tripura elections which the BJP swept, decimating the Left. 

    The Congress had also drawn a blank in the Nagaland elections of 2018. The party, which had won many elections under former Chief Minister SC Jamir, is now virtually lost in the state which is ruled by a coalition of BJP, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, and Naga People’s Front. All MLAs in the state are from these three parties.

    The elections in the three states are around the corner but not many people are talking about the Congress.

    Party leaders, however, try to put up a brave face. “So what if we have one MLA? Atal Bihari Vajpayee had just two MPs but he went on to become the Prime Minister,” Tripura Congress chief Birajit Sinha told this newspaper.  “There is a lot going on in Tripura. People will vote us to power,” he said confidently, just days after seven Congress leaders, led by former state chief Pijush Kanti Biswas, joined the TMC in Tripura.

    The Congress in Nagaland sounded equally optimistic. “The Congress is the only alternative and people will vote for it. Not only has the Naga political issue remained unresolved, but the state, under the present government, is also facing bifurcation,” state Congress president K Therie said referring to the demand of an influential tribal organization for the creation of “Frontier Nagaland” state in eastern Nagaland.

    READ HERE | ‘Trinamool not a Bengali party, I work for all of India’: Mamata in poll-bound Meghalaya

    GUWAHATI: The upcoming elections in three states of the Northeast will be a battle for survival for the Congress which once ruled the entire region but has now gotten reduced to a shadow of its glorious past. The Congress’ slide in the Northeast began after the BJP’s emergence as a powerhouse in 2014.

    Simultaneous elections in the 60-member Assemblies of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura are expected in February.

    As it appears now, the Congress is not in the race to power in any of these states. It lacks leaders after many of them embraced the ruling party and other parties over a period of time.

    The Congress does not have a single MLA in Nagaland, just one in Tripura and one in Meghalaya.

    However, the five in Meghalaya were suspended earlier this year by the party’s central leadership for cosying up to the Conrad K Sangma government.

    The Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the 2018 Meghalaya Assembly elections but the National People’s Party (NPP)-led motley alliance formed the government. 

    In November last year, 12 of 17 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya, led by former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, jumped ship to wear Trinamool Congress (TMC) colours. Their desertion relegated the grand old party to a more minor party and made the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC the state’s principal Opposition party overnight. TMC had no base in the state prior to that.

    Shillong MP H Pala is now Congress’s lone prominent face in the Christian-majority state. The Congress will not, perhaps, have a single MLA by the time it goes to elections as the five suspended legislators have more or less ditched the party and are likely to contest the polls on the tickets of other political parties.

    ALSO READ | Four Meghalaya MLAs join BJP ahead of upcoming elections

    In Tripura, Sudip Roy Barman is the Congress’ only MLA. He had won the last election on the BJP’s ticket and was inducted into the ministry but he resigned from the Assembly and the party in February this year after falling out with the then-Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. Later, he won a by-election, necessitated by his resignation.

    The Congress had failed to win a single seat in the 2018 Tripura elections which the BJP swept, decimating the Left. 

    The Congress had also drawn a blank in the Nagaland elections of 2018. The party, which had won many elections under former Chief Minister SC Jamir, is now virtually lost in the state which is ruled by a coalition of BJP, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, and Naga People’s Front. All MLAs in the state are from these three parties.

    The elections in the three states are around the corner but not many people are talking about the Congress.

    Party leaders, however, try to put up a brave face. “So what if we have one MLA? Atal Bihari Vajpayee had just two MPs but he went on to become the Prime Minister,” Tripura Congress chief Birajit Sinha told this newspaper.  “There is a lot going on in Tripura. People will vote us to power,” he said confidently, just days after seven Congress leaders, led by former state chief Pijush Kanti Biswas, joined the TMC in Tripura.

    The Congress in Nagaland sounded equally optimistic. “The Congress is the only alternative and people will vote for it. Not only has the Naga political issue remained unresolved, but the state, under the present government, is also facing bifurcation,” state Congress president K Therie said referring to the demand of an influential tribal organization for the creation of “Frontier Nagaland” state in eastern Nagaland.

    READ HERE | ‘Trinamool not a Bengali party, I work for all of India’: Mamata in poll-bound Meghalaya

  • Nagaland group threatens to boycott polls for statehood, Amit Shah invites it for talks

    By Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Ahead of its meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah, the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) has reiterated that the people of eastern Nagaland will boycott Assembly elections, expected in February next year, if the Centre fails to create the “Frontier Nagaland” state by bifurcating Nagaland.

    The ENPO, which is the apex organisation of the Nagas of eastern Nagaland, said it had received an invitation from Shah for a meeting in New Delhi on December 3.

    “We will take part in the meeting but we stand firm on our decision to boycott the elections if the separate Frontier Nagaland state is not granted to the people of eastern Nagaland,” W Manwang Anghaa, the secretary of ENPO, told this newspaper on Monday. The statehood demand is non-negotiable, he added. 

    Nagaland has 60 Assembly seats and 16 districts. The people of eastern Nagaland envisage a separate state by slicing off the six eastern Nagaland districts of Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator and Tuensang which have altogether 20 Assembly constituencies. Some of these districts share a border with Myanmar.

    “Nobody will take part in the elections. If people contest, who will vote for them? And if somebody does not comply with our decision and goes to vote, he or she will face actions. We are desperate for statehood,” Anghaa said. 

    The people of ENPO region have already decided not to take part in the 10-day annual state government-organised Hornbill Festival beginning on December 1. It draws tourists from around the world. The demand of statehood stems from the alleged backwardness of eastern Nagaland region.

    “The Centre has given a lot of money but it is only for Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung districts. There is total discrimination against eastern Nagaland region for the past 60 years,” Anghaa alleged. Kohima is the capital of Nagaland while Dimapur is its commercial hub.

    GUWAHATI: Ahead of its meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah, the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) has reiterated that the people of eastern Nagaland will boycott Assembly elections, expected in February next year, if the Centre fails to create the “Frontier Nagaland” state by bifurcating Nagaland.

    The ENPO, which is the apex organisation of the Nagas of eastern Nagaland, said it had received an invitation from Shah for a meeting in New Delhi on December 3.

    “We will take part in the meeting but we stand firm on our decision to boycott the elections if the separate Frontier Nagaland state is not granted to the people of eastern Nagaland,” W Manwang Anghaa, the secretary of ENPO, told this newspaper on Monday. The statehood demand is non-negotiable, he added. 

    Nagaland has 60 Assembly seats and 16 districts. The people of eastern Nagaland envisage a separate state by slicing off the six eastern Nagaland districts of Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator and Tuensang which have altogether 20 Assembly constituencies. Some of these districts share a border with Myanmar.

    “Nobody will take part in the elections. If people contest, who will vote for them? And if somebody does not comply with our decision and goes to vote, he or she will face actions. We are desperate for statehood,” Anghaa said. 

    The people of ENPO region have already decided not to take part in the 10-day annual state government-organised Hornbill Festival beginning on December 1. It draws tourists from around the world. The demand of statehood stems from the alleged backwardness of eastern Nagaland region.

    “The Centre has given a lot of money but it is only for Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung districts. There is total discrimination against eastern Nagaland region for the past 60 years,” Anghaa alleged. Kohima is the capital of Nagaland while Dimapur is its commercial hub.

  • Gujarat Congress MLA resigns ahead of state polls, third to quit in two days

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Congress MLA from Jhalod in Gujarat’s Dahod district Bhavesh Katara has resigned as the legislator, ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections.

    He is the third Congress MLA to resign in the last two days after Mohansinh Rathwa and Bhagwan Barad.

    Katara went to the residence of Assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya on Wednesday night and submitted his resignation to her, an official statement said.

    His resignation comes at a time when the BJP is finalising candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections.

    Katara is likely to join the BJP on Thursday.

    Earlier, Rathwa and Barad also joined the saffron party after resigning from the Congress party and as MLAs.

    Gujarat elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5, and counting of votes will be held on December 8.

    AHMEDABAD: Congress MLA from Jhalod in Gujarat’s Dahod district Bhavesh Katara has resigned as the legislator, ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections.

    He is the third Congress MLA to resign in the last two days after Mohansinh Rathwa and Bhagwan Barad.

    Katara went to the residence of Assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya on Wednesday night and submitted his resignation to her, an official statement said.

    His resignation comes at a time when the BJP is finalising candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections.

    Katara is likely to join the BJP on Thursday.

    Earlier, Rathwa and Barad also joined the saffron party after resigning from the Congress party and as MLAs.

    Gujarat elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5, and counting of votes will be held on December 8.