Not much worried about the NSCN(IM)'s imposition of 'emergency' in Nagaland, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami has exuded confidence in holding violence-free elections in the restive northeastern state.
"We will hold free, fair and peaceful polling in Nagaland," Gopalaswami said after reviewing the poll preparedness in Meghalaya last night.
When asked about the frontline Naga rebel group's clamping of 'emergency' in the proposed state of 'Nagalim', the CEC quipped, "In India many people or groups do things in their own way. The EC too has its own way. We are not only determined but we will ensure violence-free polling in the three poll-bound NE states, including Nagaland." Close on the heels of the declaration of President's Rule in Nagaland by the Centre, the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland faction headed by Isak Chishi Swu and T Muivah (NSCN-IM) on January 12 imposed 'emergency' in the state of 'Nagalim', "in view of the precarious situation in Nagalim which increasingly threatens peace and normal state of affairs".
The NSCN-IM, pressing for a Naga homeland in northeast India, has been engaged in peace talks with the Indian government ever since the group entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Centre in July 1997.
The CEC, accompanied by election commissioners SY Qureshi and Navin Chawla, has already reviewed the situations in Meghalaya and Tripura.
{{/usCountry}}The CEC, accompanied by election commissioners SY Qureshi and Navin Chawla, has already reviewed the situations in Meghalaya and Tripura.
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