Zero turnout in 6 Nagaland districts amid shutdown call

Kohima, April 19: Polling personnel in six eastern districts of Nagaland waited for nine hours in booths, but not one of the four lakh voters of the region turned up, following a shutdown call given by an organisation to press for its demand for “Frontier Nagaland Territory”.

Chief minister Neiphiu Rio on Friday affirmed that the state government does not have any problem with the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation’s (ENPO) demand for FNT as it has already recommended autonomous powers for the region.

The ENPO is the apex body of the seven tribal organisations of the eastern region.

Officials said there is no movement of people or vehicles on major streets in eastern Nagaland except those of the district administrations and other emergency services.

Additional chief electoral officer of Nagaland Awa Loring said polling personnel were present between 7 am and 4 pm in the 738 polling stations in the region which comprises 20 Assembly constituencies.

Sources in the CEO’s office said none came up to cast votes in those nine hours. Those 20 MLAs also did not exercise their franchise.

Of the 13.25 lakh voters in Nagaland, the six districts in Eastern Nagaland have 4,00,632 voters.

Speaking to reporters after casting his vote at his village in Touphema, some 41 km on the outskirts of the state capital, the chief minister said he accepted the draft working paper for FNT which was handed over to him in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah.

“Everything looks okay except the power-sharing the elected legislators of the region and members of the proposed FNT,” he said.

The ENPO has been demanding a separate state comprising six districts alleging that successive governments did not bring about socio-economic development in the region.