New Delhi: Polling booths in six districts of eastern Nagaland wore a deserted look with almost zero voter turnout in first phase of Lok Sabha polling, following a shutdown directive issued by Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) advocating for the establishment of ‘Frontier Nagaland Territory’ (FNT), news agency PTI reported.
ENPO, representing the seven tribal outfits of the eastern region, has been at the forefront of this demand.
Amid shutdown calls, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio reassured on Friday that the state government harbours no objections to the demand for FNT.
As per the Additional Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland, Awa Loring, polling personnel were deployed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. across 738 polling stations spanning 20 assembly constituencies in the region. However, no voter showed up, and even the 20 MLAs of the area refrained from casting their votes.
Out of Nagaland's total 13.25 lakh voters, the six districts in Eastern Nagaland account for 4,00,632 voters.
Addressing the media after casting his vote in Touphema, the chief minister said he received the draft working paper for FNT during a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and highlighted the need for a clear plan regarding power-sharing between elected legislators and FNT members.
The ENPO's persistent demand for a separate state, encompassing six districts, stems from grievances over alleged neglect in socio-economic development by successive governments.
“When an autonomous body is created, there has to be a proper system with the elected members. The state government has nothing to do with this. The MLAs and ENPO should sit across the table to work out a formula. We can talk only after that,” PTI quoted CM Rio as saying.
Asked if any action would be taken against the 20 legislators who did not cast their votes, CM Rio said, “We don’t want confrontation. Let us see what will happen.”