The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesady announced the election schedules for the three Northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.
Tripura will go to polls on February 16 and Meghalaya and Nagaland will have voting on February 27. The counting of votes for all three states will be held on March 2.
Each of the three states have 60 assembly seats and will have single-phase elections.
In Nagaland, the elections come amid calls for boycott over the issue of a separate state in the state's east and calls for a solution to the Naga issue.
In Meghalaya, the elections come amid rampant defections. A total of 18 MLAs have resigned from their parties so far.
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Besides the announcement of elections in the Northeast India, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar also said that elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held at the right time taking into consideration weather conditions, security aspects, election schedule in other states, and other appropriate factors.
New entrants make polls multipolar
In the three Northeastern states, Tripura has a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government and Nagaland and Meghalaya have the BJP as a junior partner.
In Meghalaya, the Congress is plagued by defections which have reduced the party to zero in the state assembly. With 21 seats, the Congress was the single-largest party in the previous 2018 Meghalaya assembly elections.
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The emergance of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the region has also added to making the region's politics multipolar.
Outlook's Ashutosh Bhardwaj earlier noted, "While the Congress once formed the principal Opposition in these states, two new entrants, AAP and Trinamool Congress (TMC), have made the polity multipolar.
"In Meghalaya, the TMC, especially after its victory in the 2021 West Bengal polls, has wooed prominent political faces from across the spectrum, with former Congress Chief Minister Mukul Sangma as its leader. Since 12 out of the 17 Congress MLAs have defected to the TMC so far, it is now the principal Opposition party in the Assembly."
The shifting party loyalties have also affected the BJP, noted Bhardwaj.
He noted, "the BJP seems to be in a weaker position in Tripura because seven MLAs of the party and its allies have joined other parties. While the BJP was forced to change its Chief Minister Biplab Deb mid-term, the new Chief Minister Manik Saha is still struggling to hold the party together."
Nagaland: Calls for boycott, solution to Naga issue
In the run-up to Nagaland elections, calls have been made for boycott over the issue of a separate state in the state's east. There have also been calls to resolve the Naga issue.
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In December, the Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) boycotted the Hornbill Festival and also announced that they would not participate in the state elections. The ENPO is demanding a separate state called Frontier Nagaland be carved out from the state's eastern part. It says the separate state is needed as four eastern districts have been neglected for years.
Earlier this month, the NSCN-IM and Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) declared their unconditional commitment to collaborate for the resolution of the Naga political issue with the Government of India.
