The Nagaland BJP today announced a list of 20 candidates for the upcoming elections. This comes as State BJP leaders have tried to downplay any issue of disharmony within the party with regard to allocation of party tickets. The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the BJP met on February 1 under the Presidentship of Jagat Prakash Nadda.
A press release from Arun Singh, National General Secretary & Incharge stated that the meeting was attended by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi; Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh; Home Minister, Amit Shah and all other members of the Central Election Committee of the BJP. The committee, on the following day on February 2, announced the names of their candidates for the ensuing General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland, scheduled for February 27. The list featured nine new faces to participate from the BJP, 4 candidates who switched allegiances and 5 new forays into electoral politics.
They included former NPF legislator, Er Kropol Vitsu; former NDPP legislator, Imkong L Imchen; former NPF candidate, Konngam Konyak; and former NPP candidate, Er Cheong Konyak. Meanwhile, Pangjung Jamir, Kahuli Sema, Renbonthung Ezung, Sethrongkyu Sangtam and Bashangmongba Chang were the fresh entrants. Konngam and Er Cheong were among the BJP ticket aspirants, who had recently protested in Dimapur under the banner of BJP Forum, Nagaland, demanding 30-30 seat sharing arrangement in place of the 20-40 arrangement.