Kohima: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday announced the schedule to hold the by-election to fill the vacant seat in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly from Noksen (ST) Assembly Constituency in Tuensang district which will be held on April 17 next.
The by-election to Noksen (ST) Assembly Constituency (AC) was left vacant after the demise of sitting Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change and Justice and Law and former MP C M Chang on October 12 last year. The Commission notified that the poll programme schedule has been decided after taking into consideration various factors like local festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions, movement of forces and pandemic. The date of issue of Gazette notification will be on March 23 and the last date of nominations will be March 30. Polling has been set for April 17 while counting will be held on May 2.
The electoral rolls for the constituencies have been published with January 1, 2021 as the qualifying date. The ECI also stated that it has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the by-election in all polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines, it notified.
Meanwhile, The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will come into force with immediate effect in the district in which the whole or any part of the Assembly Constituency going for election is included, subject to partial modification as issued vide Commission’ s instruction. The ECI said that the MCC shall be applicable to all candidates, political parties and the State Government concerned as well as applicable to the Union Government, it said.
