NPF wins lone Nagaland seat

The Nagaland People's Front on Thursday won the lone parliamentary seat in Nagaland.

The NPF's Wangyuh Konyak led his nearest rival K Asungba Sangtam of the Congress by over 400,000 votes.

The result was not declared due to technical snags in electronic voting machines in two polling stations. However, Konyak will win irrespective of the results from those booths.

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio congratulated the people for choosing Konyak and said the next government at the Centre should seriously try to solve the Naga political problem.

Rio said his party would maintain good relations with the Centre to ensure peace and prosperity in the state.

"I have already sent a congratulatory letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her party's victory in the election. We have no quarrel with the Centre being a small state," Rio said.

The CP expressed confidence that the new government would continue with the special economic package of Rs 1,050 crore announced by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for development of the state.

Asked whether his party was going to support the Congress at the Centre, Rio said, "In coalition politics nothing can be ruled out. Let's wait and watch the development at the Centre."