Northeast:09 Jan 2013

Assembly polls in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland are likely to be scheduled in the last week of February. The Election Commission (EC) may announce the state elections — likely to be held in a single phase — later this week, Nirvachan Sadan sources said on Monday. 

Though the terms of the three state assemblies are expiring only in March, the EC is keen to wind up the polls ahead of the presentation of the Union budget, which by all indications is being scheduled for February 28.  The term of the Meghalaya assembly expires on March 10, that of Tripura on March 16, while the Nagaland assembly’s term ends on March 26. The EC has already completed the revision of rolls in the three states.

Security forces are to be deployed in all the three states, particularly in Meghalaya and Nagaland, for the polls, though the EC does not foresee any major trouble from insurgent groups active there.  The EC on Monday wound up its visits to the three poll-bound states to assess election preparedness. The full Commission interacted with Nagaland state government officials on January 3, followed by a discussion on the Tripura arrangements on January 4 and 5. On Monday, the Commission toured Meghalaya to review the preparations.  The Commission also met leaders of various political parties in the three states.  While Meghalaya is ruled by a Congress-led coalition, the party sits in the opposition in Nagaland and Tripura. While Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) heads the Nagaland government, the Left is in power in Tripura.

source:Northeastnews