Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Jan. 24 (EMN): Secretary General of Naga People's Front (NPF), Achumbemo Kikon, on Monday said that the party will announce its candidates for the upcoming Manipur Legislative Assembly elections in the first week of February.
The elections for Manipur’s 60-member state assembly will be held in two phases – February 27 (six districts) and March 3 (10 districts) – and counting of votes will be done on March 10.
Kikon told Eastern Mirror that the NPF has received applications from 16 constituencies so far for the Manipur polls but the party is yet to decide on the number of seats it will contest. He added that the party is still examining the candidates and the final list will be out in the first week of February.
Expressing optimism about its performance in the upcoming election, he said the party has influence in as many as 25 constituencies, including the valley (Imphal), which has a noticeable Naga population. He went on to inform that 11 constituencies in the state are inhabited by Nagas.
The NPF, which won four seats in the previous assembly election, is an ally of the BJP-led Manipur government.
The tenure of the state legislative assembly will end on March 19.
Meanwhile, the Congress party had on January 22 released its first list of 40 candidates for Manipur assembly election before the National People’s Party (NPP) announced its initial list of 20 candidates on Monday.
It is also reported that the BJP will announce its candidates on Tuesday, January 25.