The electorate in Nagaland is being fervently wooed by political parties of all hues for the April 16 elections, with money reportedly playing a significant role.

There are three candidates in the fray for the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state. However, the main contest will be between Asungba Sangtam of the Congress and bureaucrat-turned-politician, C.M. Chang of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) — a conglomeration of Nagaland People’s Front (NPF), the NCP and the BJP.

The other challenger is Rilungthung Odyuo of the All India Trinamool Congress.

Peace, progress and development are the key issued being highlighted by the DAN, while the Congress is harping on the alleged rampant corruption in the state.

But the electorate does not seem to be overly bothered about campaign rhetoric and pledges. In Nagaland, like in many other parts of the country, the voters feel that money speaks louder than empty promises and assurances.

Needless to say, money — in kind or cash — gives the cutting edge to a particular candidate or a party.

Political leaders, cutting across party lines, admit in private that it is money power which will ultimately decide the electoral fortunes of the candidates.

“We can earn as much a Rs 20,000 during election time. We are also invited to partake in the community feasts thrown by candidates. Bhal time aase (these are good times),” said a candid voter in Kohima village.

But then, elections cannot be fought, at least for the record, without issues. And Nagaland, gasping for peace and development, has no dearth of these either.

The Congress came out with a long list of scams that allegedly surfaced during the DAN regime in the state. The list includes a recent scam in the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC), bogus appointments of about 2,000 teachers in primary schools, anomalies in the Nagaland University which are being probed by the CBI and another scam in the now-abandoned Nagaland sugar mill.

The Congress has also made the deteriorating law and order scenario in the state a poll issue.

The DAN, on the other hand, is depending largely on its tried and tested card of the “Naga political issue” — the official phrase for the meandering Naga peace talks — which gave it rich dividends in the last two Assembly elections.

Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio and other DAN leaders are charging the Congress with being a “stumbling block” in resolving the long-pending militancy problem in the state.

Even the number of wives Chang has is a poll issue here.

The Congress claims that Chang married four sisters and so he should not represent the Nagas in the Parliament. The party termed him a “man with no morality and integrity”. But Chang defends himself, saying he married only two sisters and not four as claimed by the Congress.

Amidst all these charges and counter-charges, it is the voters who are having a hearty laugh over the crude “politician jokes”. For a change, the politicians seem to be at the receiving end.