After a period of lull, the pace of political activity in the State has stepped up thanks to the bye-election for the Dimapur-I and 54 Tuensang Sadar-II Assembly Constituency to be held on March 8. With the last date of making nomination fixed for February 19 (Monday), it was expected that the week leading up to it will have the right dose of politicking. Eventful and interesting it has been what with the DAN alliance partners coming down from its high sounding rhetoric of consensus candidate but finally having to take the embarrassing choice of friendly contests. It will be now interesting to see how the conglomeration, which is now truly dominated by the NPF, will manage the coalition itself come elections in early 2008. In that sense, the absence of veteran politician Late Hokishe Sema will be even more heartbreaking for the DAN as there appears to be no one who can hold the alliance together. Therefore a big question mark hangs over Team DAN and how the alliance can still survive the pulls and pressures expected in the near future.
As far as the Congress goes, while many would have presumed that the party would have come out unscathed, the resignation of the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) President did come as an unexpected development. Whatever his argument for wanting to field former Chief Minister and veteran politician KL Chishi for the prestigious Dimapur-I Assembly Constituency seat, that there exist differences in the party leadership has been thoroughly exposed. This rift in the party hierarchy does not sound promising with Assembly election less than a year away. As mentioned above with regard to the DAN alliance, the Congress in Nagaland today faces a similar dilemma ever since the exit of its leader SC Jamir. In that sense one of the biggest challenges for both the Congress and the DAN (if it decides to continue its alliance) will be on the question of leadership and more importantly whether the current leadership, especially in the Congress is acceptable to all sections of the party. Having drawn a blank in all the three Assembly Constituency under Dimapur area during the last election, a win in the Dimapur-I seat (even if it is for s short term) is extremely crucial if the Congress wants to come back to power. Whether, the Congress may have missed an opportunity by ignoring the candidature of KL Chishi, only time will tell.
As far as the NPF is concerned, there is no doubt that in the post election (2003) period, it has gone from strength to strength in terms of both its numbers and power and may be tempted to go it alone in the next poll without the baggage of carrying an almost defunct JD (U) and the uncertain BJP. As such the bye-election will remain a testing ground not only for the NPF but all the other players. And when results of the election are announced, the outcome will no doubt be an indicator of how the political wind is blowing across the State. It will also be interesting to see the fortunes of the two major political parties—NPF and Congress and whether the former can still keep the wave of momentum in its favour. Both Dimapur and Tuensang present a different set of political scenario and a win in both seats for either the NPF or the Congress will boost prospects for the coming Assembly Elections. However this does not seem to be the case and both the NPF and Congress may end up sharing the spoils after the March 8 bye-election, which will essentially be a trial of strength for the two major parties ahead of the real battle early next year.
