All the candidates from six districts comprising eastern Nagaland withdrew from the civic polls in the northeastern State while 64 others have been elected uncontested.
The Nagaland urban local body (ULB) polls, stalled for 20 years due to stiff opposition from traditional tribal bodies to the reservation of 33% of the seats for women, are scheduled on June 26.
Some candidates had filed their nominations in some town councils of four districts despite a call given by the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) to abstain from all elections. The ENPO boycotted the polls in protest against the Centre and the State government’s failure to form the autonomous Frontier Nagaland Territory.
The four districts where nominations were filed are Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, and Shamator.
“Those who submitted their nomination papers from the eastern (Nagaland) districts withdrew by June 18. We now have 523 candidates in the fray,” a State Election Commission official said on Thursday.
The ENPO had also boycotted the elections to Nagaland’s lone Lok Sabha seat on April 19. No one turned up at any of the polling centres across the 20 Assembly segments in the six eastern districts.
The official said 64 candidates were declared winners unopposed as they were the lone candidates in their respective wards.
A statement provided by the State Election Commission said 45 of such candidates were fielded by the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, seven by its ally Bharatiya Janata Party, five by the Nationalist Congress Party, three by Congress, and two each by the Naga People’s Front and Independents.
