Kohima, June 4 (IANS): The Congress is leading in Nagaland's sole Lok Sabha seat against the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) candidate by a margin of 19,016 votes.

S. Supongmeren Jamir, who is also the state Congress chief, was ahead against NDPP's Chumben Murry, the consensus candidate of the Peoples' Democratic Alliance (PDA).

Independent aspirant Hayithung Tungoe Lotha is also in the fray.

The PDA, headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, is running the opposition-less state government.

Polling in Nagaland was held in the first phase of voting on April 19 amid a call by the Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) to abstain from voting in six districts of the region over its demand for a separate state. People in the six districts, which have over four lakh voters spread over 738 polling stations, remained indoors on April 19 responding to the ENPO's call to boycott the polls to press for its statehood demand for 'Frontier Nagaland Territory'.