Kohima: The Election Commission reviewed the poll preparedness in Nagaland where Assembly election is due in March.
The EC team, which came on a two-day visit to Nagaland on Thursday, held discussions with political parties of the state at Chumukedima police complex near Dimapur. All three members and other officials of the Commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath, arrived in Dimapur to asses the preparations of Assembly election in the state.
According to sources, the EC team told the political parties that the 2013 Assembly elections for all the three north eastern states of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura would be held as scheduled.
As per the schedule, the election in Nagaland should be held within March and the Commission would announce the date after returning to New Delhi.
The tenure of the present state Assembly expires on March 18. The last Assembly election was held on March 5, 2008.
The political parties such as ruling NPF, opposition Congress, BJP, NCP and others held meetings separately with EC officials. Besides the CEC, two other election commissioners H S Brahma and Sayed Nasim also attended the meetings.
The NPCC delegation, led by its president Imtisungit Jamir, urged the EC to make all preparations for holding free and fair polls.
BJP suggested that a solution to Naga political problem should preceed the assembly election.
Nagaland Chief Electoral Officer Jane Alam said that the EC team would hold a series of meetings with the state civil and police officials on poll preparedness on Friday. They would also hold a meeting with DCs and SPs of the districts.
The election department sources said the state’s photo electoral roll was now complete and the process of printing of the same would begin soon.
Meanwhile, an all party meeting of political parties in Nagaland was held yesterday at Dimapur after they separately meeting the EC team.
According to a press release from State BJP, the meeting was attended by representatives from all political parties in the state but the ruling NPF reportedly wished the gathering a happy new year and walked out.
The release said that the meeting was convened to discuss how the political parties can contribute towards facilitating the on-going political dialogue between the Government of India and Naga underground groups to bring about an early political solution to the Naga conflict.
The meeting also agreed to request the Assembly Speaker to prepone the proposed all party meeting convened by him on January 8. (PTI)
