Delhi High Court seeks Election Commission reply on plea to de-register Nagaland’s NDPP
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to respond to a petition seeking the de-registration of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the party at the head of the coalition government in Nagaland. Justice Yogesh Khanna also sought the NDPP’s reply and listed the case for further hearing on April 10.
What the petition says
The plea was filed by Zeneisilie Ate Louchii, a resident of the state, who is challenging an ECI order of February 7 that turned down her earlier complaint. She accuses several NDPP members of supplying information that was “false” and “manufactured” when the party applied for registration.
Under ECI guidelines, a party seeking registration must file individual affidavits from at least 100 members stating that they are registered voters and do not belong to any other party registered with the commission. According to the petitioner, 27 of those 100 made a false declaration on this point, and some of them were at the time also members of another regional party, the Naga People’s Front (NPF).
Senior advocate Arvind Nigam and advocate Arunabh Chowdhury, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the registration had been obtained by deceiving the commission. Besides de-registration under Section 29-A of the 1951 Representation of the People Act, the plea asks the court to undo every step taken on the basis of that registration, including its recognition on April 17, 2018 as a state party in Nagaland. It also describes the ECI’s order as bad in law and says the commission dismissed the complaint despite the material placed before it.
Background
The NDPP was formed in October 2017 and is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The two parties formed the government after the assembly election held in March 2018, with the NDPP holding the chief minister’s post and the BJP the deputy chief minister’s post. In that election the NDPP won 18 seats and the BJP 12, while the Naga People’s Front won 26, and Neiphiu Rio of the NDPP became Chief Minister.
See also: more election news
Originally published on 28 February 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.
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