Nagaland Election Result Highlights: Nagaland political stalwart and its longest serving chief minister Neiphiu Rio is set to assume office as chief minister for a fifth consecutive term after a convincing win for his party and its ally, the BJP. Together, the two parties have secured 37 seats in the 60-member Nagaland assembly. The NDPP-BJP alliance have are poised to form the government in Nagaland. The NDPP has won 25 seats and the BJP has won 12, giving them a joint tally of 37 seats. After Hekani Jakhalu becomes first woman MLA in Nagaland after winning with a margin of 1536 votes representing Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party in Dimapur-III constituency, NDPP’s second woman candidate, Salhoutuonuo Kruse has won the Western Angami seat by just seven votes. She will join Hekani Jakhalu as MLA in the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly, which is set to be the state’s first ever assembly to have women MLAs. Follow Meghalaya | Tripura | Assembly Elections Highlights here In the battle for 60 seats, exit polls predict the BJP to comfortably cross the majority mark, winning 42 seats along with its coalition partner, the National Democratic Progressive Party. Given the state of the Opposition in Nagaland, the ruling coalition was far ahead of the race, and the exit polls seem to be on the same lines, giving the Congress just 1 seat and the NPF (a formerly formidable force) 6 seats. As votes are counted, there are constituencies that one needs to watch out for: Phek, which is considered a stronghold of the NPF; Atoizu, from where BJP’s only woman candidate, Kahuli Sema, is running; and Dimapur III.