Former Nagaland chief minister K.L. Chishi will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha election from the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland on Congress ticket while the party has fielded former Tuensang deputy commissioner Alemjongshi Longkumer for the by-election to Aonglenden Assembly constituency.
Both the Lok Sabha and Assembly bypoll will be held simultaneously on April 11.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) announced the names of Chishi and Longkumer as candidates for the Lok Sabha election and by-election on Thursday night.
Nagaland PCC general secretary Capt. G.K. Zhimomi, in a statement, said the AICC’s central election committee selected K.L. Chishi as INC candidate for the ensuing elections to the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland and Longkumer as the Congress nominee for the byelection to the Aonglenden Assembly constituency.
Chishi, a former Congress strongman, rejoined the Congress on March 14, saying the party is the true epitome of secularism which upholds the sanctity of the Indian Constitution.
He joined the BJP before the 2018 state Assembly elections and contested the Assembly poll on BJP ticket from Atoizu assembly constituency unsuccessfully. He resigned from the BJP on March 7.
Longkumer is a former state civil servant and resigned as Tuensang deputy commissioner.
The ruling People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) on Thursday issued ticket to its consensus candidates Tokheho Yepthomi, the sitting Lok Sabha MP, for the Lok Sabha seat and Sharingain Longkumer for the byelection to Aonglenden Assembly constituency.
Both Yepthomi and Longkumer are from Nationalist Progressive Democratic Party (NDPP), the PDA’s major partner.
The Opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) is yet to announce its candidates for the Lok Sabha area and the byelection in the state. The NPF has 26 MLAs in the 60-member Nagaland House.
NPF sources the party is likely to decide on its candidates by Monday and issue tickets on March 19.
For now, the Lok Sabha battle will be between Congress nominee Chishi and PDA’s Yepthomi.