Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Mar. 4: Vote-counting for the district of Dimapur on March 3 was one for the jitters as the way to the final numbers threw up a rollercoaster of confusion, celebration, and shock.
Many first-time contenders for this year’s elections to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly offered tantalizing drama to some of the old timers during the first few rounds of counting.
The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party’s (NDPP) Supulebten was defeated by first-timer Moatoshi Longkumer from the Naga People’s Front (NPF) by a staggering 21, 942 against 15, 003 in Dimapur-II assembly constituency (AC). At Ghaspani-1 AC, Jacob Zhimomi of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) started leading from round one with 2609 votes. Treading not far behind was Kasheto Yepthomi, an independent with 1522 votes. Zhimomi emerged victorious with 23, 391 votes against Yepthomi's 20, 796 votes.
Prominent social activist KK Sema from the Indian National Congress (INC), also in the fray for the first time, was leading by a few hundred votes against Zhaleo Rio (NDPP) in Ghaspani-2 but things took a turn during the last few rounds of the counting as Rio secured the top vote to emerge triumphant.
At Dimapur-1 AC, it was a landslide win for Tovihoto Ayemi (BJP), who proved to have secured major support from his constituency with a margin of more than six thousand votes against Pukhavi Yepthomi (NPF).
In another surprising win, this time against NDPP’s veteran candidate Tokheho Yepthomi, the NPF’s Azheto Zhimomi won at Dimapur-3 with more than two thousand votes.
