The hard push for peace and development: What worked for BJP alliance in Nagaland

The BJP alliance is set to retain Nagaland. In a hard fought battle for the northeastern state, there were plenty of issues at stake

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The
BJP
and
its
ally
NDPP
are
set
to
return
to
power
in
Nagaland.
As
per
the
leads,
the
BJP
Alliance
is
set
to
win
in
at
least
33
seats.

There
are
60
seats
in
the
Nagaland
elections
and
the
magic
number
is
31.

There
are
a
number
of
issues
that
went
in
favour
of
the
BJP
alliance
in
Nagaland.

The
Eastern
Nagaland
People’s
Organisation
(ENPO)
had
called
for
a
boycott
of
the
elections
until
its
demands
were
made.
The
demand
included
a
separate
state-Frontier
Nagaland
comprising
six
districts
of
Tuensang,
Mon,
Shamator,
Kiphire,
Noklak
and
Longleng.

Over
83.63%
voter
turnout
recorded
in
Nagaland,
75%
in
Meghalaya

Had
this
boycott
call
gone
through,
it
would
have
had
an
effect
on
20
constituencies
in
the
state.

Union
Home
Minister,
Amit
Shah
however
assured
on
February
2
that
an
agreement
will
be
signed
with
the
ENPO
after
elections.
Following
this
the
poll
boycott
was
withdrawn.
The
Armed
Forces
Special
Powers
Act
(AFSPA)
was
also
a
major
issue.
The
whole
of
Nagaland
was
under
AFSPA
since
1995.

During
a
poll
rally,
Shah
had
said
that
the
Naga
peace
talks
should
pave
the
way
for
a
total
exit
of
AFSPA
in
the
state.
He
said
that
he
sees
Nagaland
being
AFSPA
free
in
the
next
three
to
four
years.

One
of
the
main
issues
for
the
BJP
was
the
restoration
of
peace
in
Nagaland.
In
Tuensang,
Shah
had
said
steps
taken
by
the
Centre
in
the
past
nine
years
had
led
to
a
decline
of
70
per
cent.
The
casualties
among
the
security
forces
also
dropped
by
60
per
cent,
while
civilian
deaths
in
violence
dipped
by
83
per
cent.
He
also
pointed
out
that
this
was
a
resultant
of
the
AFSPA
being
withdrawn
from
15
police
station
limit
across
15
police
stations.

The
factor
that
could
have
gone
in
favour
of
the
BJP
alliance
was
the
increase
in
budgetary
allocations
for
tribals
being
increased
from
Rs
21,000
crore
in
2014
to
Rs
86,000
crore
in
2022.