Nagaland election 2023: ECI officials in state to review poll preparedness

The Election Commission of India (ECI) officials led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, arrived in Nagaland on Friday ahead of the state Assembly election 2023, which is expected to be held in a few weeks’ time. 

The ECI entourage is currently on a tour of election-bound states -- Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland -- to review poll preparedness.

Upon arrival at Kohima on Friday evening, the ECI team had a separate meeting with various political parties of the state and enforcement agencies -- both Central and state -- at Hotel de Oriental Grand in Kohima, informed an update from DIPR.

The Chief Electoral Officer (VEO), Nagaland, V. Shashank Shekhar and state police nodal officers also gave a presentation on poll preparedness during the occasion, before the ECI interacted with the first time voters, it added.

It went on to say that the ECI team was welcomed by the CEO and host of senior government officials on their arrival at the state capital.

The Election Commission is expected to announce the schedule of the election in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland upon return to Delhi after the review meetings with officials of the states.

It may be recalled that the ECI announced 2018 Assembly election schedules for the three north-eastern states on January 18, before holding the elections on February 18 in Tripura, while Meghalaya and Nagaland went to the polls on February 27. The counting of votes in all the states was done on March 3.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Nagaland had earlier said that the EC had approved 305 companies of Central Police Armed Forces (CAPF) for the upcoming state Assembly election and that deployment of security personnel had already begun.

A total of 2315 polling stations have been approved for the upcoming election against 2,156 polling stations in 2018, in view of the creation of five new districts -- Noklak, Tseminyu, Chümoukedima, Niuland and Shamator, it was informed.

The tenure of the incumbent Nagaland Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on March 12, 2023.