Elections to the

Nagaland Legislative Assembly Nagaland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Nagaland. Nagaland became a state of India on 1 December 1963 and after election in January 1964, the first Nagaland Legislative Assembly was formed on 11 Februa ...

were held in February 1998 to elect members of the 60 constituencies in

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

, India. The

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

won a majority of the seats and

S. C. Jamir Senayangba Chubatoshi Jamir (born 17 October 1931
PTI (''The Hindu''), 19 July 2008.) is an Indian polit ...

was re-appointed as the

Chief Minister of Nagaland The chief minister of Nagaland is the chief executive of the Indian state of Nagaland. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following e ...

. The number of constituencies was set as 60 by the recommendation of the

Delimitation Commission of India The Delimitation commission or Boundary commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the vari ...

. Regional parties like the

Naga People's Front The Naga People's Front (NPF) is a regional political party in Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh . It headed the Nagaland government with the Bharatiya Janata Party, as part of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland from 2003 to 2018. NP ...

did not contest these elections, and they were joined by the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

in this action. In 43 of the constituencies, the INC candidate was the sole candidate and hence was declared the winner without a poll. In the other 17 constituencies, the INC candidate had to compete with one or more Independents. The Independents managed to win 7 of these seats.

Background

In 1997, the NSCN(I-M) signed a ceasefire agreement with the government. The agreement ensured that while the government would not push for counter-insurgency operations against the NSCN (I-M) cadre and its leadership, the rebels on their part would not target armed forces. The

National Socialist Council of Nagaland The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) is a Naga nationalist separatist group operating mainly in Northeast India, with minor activities in northwest Myanmar (Burma). The main aim of the organisation is to establish a sovereign Naga ...

and the Naga Hoho, (a tribal body), then demanded that upcoming elections should be postponed till the conclusion of the peace talks. Since the Election Commission wasn't amenable to their arguments, they called for a boycott of the polls even issuing threats to the various political parties where necessary.

Result

Elected members

Government Formation

On 5 March,

S. C. Jamir Senayangba Chubatoshi Jamir (born 17 October 1931
PTI (''The Hindu''), 19 July 2008.) is an Indian polit ...

was sworn in as the Chief Minister, by the Governor Om Prakash Sharma, for his second successive term. In addition, 11 other members of the Legislative assembly were sworn in as ministers in the cabinet. These included the future Chief Minister,

Neiphiu Rio Neiphiu Guolhoulie Rio (born 11 November 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 9th Chief Minister of Nagaland. Rio has also served as Chief Minister for three separate terms (2002–07, 2007–12, 2012–14 and 2018–till date), making h ...

, who was made the Home minister.

References

{{Nagaland elections 1998 in Nagaland

State Assembly elections in Nagaland

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Background

Result

Elected members

Government Formation

See also

References