NEW DELHI : Assembly elections in Tripura will be held on February 18, while Meghalaya and Nagaland will go to the polls on February 27, the Election Commission of India announced on Thursday
Counting of votes in all the three sates is on March 3. The model code of conduct has come into effect from today in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura ahead of the assembly elections in these three states
CEC AK Joti told media today. All the three states have 60 seats each in their assembly. The Congress is in power in Meghalaya, the Left Front is running Tripura and the Naga People’s Front in alliance with the BJP is in charge in Nagaland. The terms of the Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura Assemblies end on March 6, 13 and 14 respectively. The three northeast states are among eight in the country that go to polls in 2018.
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be deployed in the three states along with EVMs for the first time for the polls, CEC Joti said, while addressing a press conference in New Delhi. For the last 20 years, only EVMs have been used, he added.

The Meghalaya Assembly is currently led by the Congress, which won 29 seats in the previous election. The election in Meghalaya is significant for the Congress party, as it is one of the few states under its rule.
The Tripura Assembly is under the CPI(M) government. The BJP and Congress will look to consolidate their positions in the House, with currently just seven and two seats respectively.The Naga People’s Front is at the helm of the 60-member Nagaland Assembly. The BJP won four seats while the JD(U) bagged one in the last election.
Apart from these three states, elections to the Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Assemblies will be held later this year as well.