Parties have decided to stay away from polls: Nagaland Tribal Hohos

Convenor of core committee of Nagaland Tribal Hohos and Civil Organisations Theja Therie said today parties have agreed to its demand of not contesting the upcoming assembly polls in Nagaland to be held on February 17th.

According to reports, National Socialist Council of Nagaland Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) and six Naga political groups have decided not to contest the state polls next month.

The ruling Naga People's Front(NPF) and other parties had on Saturday expressed the hope that a solution to the Naga issue could be found ahead of the Assembly elections in the state.

The NPF, National People's Party (NPP) and Aam Admi Party (AAP) had told the core committee of the Naga Hohos at a meeting that they had agreed to the demand of a "solution not election".

The BJP had stayed away from the core committee meeting on Saturday. Several political parties were against the state elections as they felt a political solution needed to be found first to the Naga issue.

The parties urged the Tribal Hohos to convince the BJP to stay away from the polls to avoid a repeat of the 1998 state election when the Congress candidates filed nominations at the last moment leading to a resounding victory for the party.