Ashikho Pfuzhe
Dimapur | February 27
With barely 24 hours left for declaration of results to the just concluded assembly election in Nagaland, the NPF-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) appears poised to take over the reins of government for the third consecutive term.
Though speculations are rife as to which political party will form the next government in the state after the counting slated on Thursday (February 28), information collected from various sources including political parties, intelligence and election enthusiasts, indicates that the NPF-led DAN coalition has a slight edge over the rival INC.
The regional party Naga People’s Front (NPF) seems ‘cock-sure’ that DAN will come to power with the party emerging as the single largest party with 28-31 seats and backed by a couple of Independent candidates and DAN partners.
According to exit poll given NPF sources, the regional party will win at least 31 seats, excluding the five assembly seats in Dimapur district. District wise break-up of “sure-winning” NPF candidates, as per party sources, are as follows: Mokokchung (5), Mon (5), Kohima (6), Phek (4), Zunheboto (3), Kiphire (2), Peren (2), Tuensang (2), Longleng (1) and Wokha (1). NPF sources also said that its coalition partner BJP will win a seat each in Mon and Tuensang district, taking the DAN coalition to total 33, beyond the half-way mark. DAN formed in 2003 comprises of NPF, BJP and JD (U).
Reliable sources also disclosed that NPF has already secured the support of two “winning” Independent candidates from Mon and Zunheboto districts respectively. However, the State Congress is still confident of upsetting NPF’s applecart.
Though not making similar claims like the rival NPF of emerging as the single largest party, the Congress has exuded confidence that with the help of Independents and other political parties not allied with DAN, the party too can stake claims to form the government.
Congress sources disclosed that party will clinch minimum 20-22 seats, while its “post-poll allies” NCP and RJD are likely to bag 4 and 1 seat respectively. With the backing of some Independent, the likelihood of the Congress forming the next cannot be ruled out, sources added.
According to political parties and independent sources, 5-7 Independent candidates out of the total 39 who contested this time have high winning chances. In case of a hung verdict, both the Congress and NPF would try their best to woo the “winning” Independents candidates.
Apart from the two major players NPF and Congress, as per exit poll trends, the NCP which fielded 16 candidates is likely to bag 2-4 seats from Wokha and Tuensang districts. The NCP did not enter into pre-poll alliance with any political party. BJP, a DAN partner, which fielded 11 candidates, is tipped to win two seats (one each from Mon and Tuensang). The prospects of other political parties like JD (U) and RJD, which fielded three candidates each, and United Nagaland Democratic Party with a lone candidate could not be ascertained.
It may be mentioned that in the 2008 polls, the NPF won 26 seats on its own while the Congress won 23.
