Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu was left embarassed today after being stopped at the entrance to the Assembly hall, where polling for the presidential election was going on, by the security staff.
The chief minister, though not eligible to vote since he is not an elected member of the Assembly, intended to enter the hall to oversee the security arrangement and logistics, but security officers blocked his entry, creating some misunderstanding between his officers and the Assembly staff, Assembly sources said.
Interacting with the media, Mr Liezietsu said, “As the head of government, I went round to see if proper security and logistics were arranged properly.”
He lamented that as he was crossing the polling hall, a staff of the Assembly pulled him from behind.
The chief minister said that he had officially intimated to the Assembly Secretariat yesterday about his visit.
The CM also regretted that the Assembly Secretariat had appointed a dissident MLA as election agent without consulting the government.
“Assembly is supposed to be above Party politics,” he said.
Meanwhile, all 59 elected representatives – 47 belonging to NPF, four to BJP and eight Independents exercised their franchise in the presidential election.
Irrespective of the leadership crisis in the Nagaland People’s Front (NPF), legislators supporting Liezietsu reached the venue in a group and cast their votes. So did the 43 dissident MLAs supporting former chief minister T R Zeliang. (agencies)