The Nagaland Legislative Assembly floor is going to be opposition-less with all parties including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Janata Dal-United extending support to the Neiphiu Rio government.
The NDPP and BJP contested the polls in an alliance and won 25 and 12 seats respectively in the 60-member assembly which went to polls last month.
Neiphiu Rio was sworn in as Chief Minister for a fifth term on Tuesday with a Cabinet comprising seven ministers from the NDPP and five from the BJP.
Other political parties, including the NCP, won seven seats; the National People’s Party (NPP) five; Lok Janshakti Party (LJP-Ram Vilas), Naga People’s Front (NPF) and Republican Party of India (RPI-Athawale) bagged two seats each, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) one and Independents four.
This is the first time that Nagaland witnessed the victory of so many political parties in the state assembly elections. LJP(RV) and RPI (Athawale) are new entrants in state politics.
The NCP is the largest opposition party with seven seats and it has the numbers to claim the Leader of the Opposition position. However, during the Nagaland trip of the party’s Northeast in-charge Narendra Verma this week, the party’s MLAs informed him that they want to join the government.
On Wednesday, Verma announced that party supremo Sharad Pawar had decided to approve of their support to the NDPP-BJP government.
Avoiding any mention of the BJP, Verma issued a statement saying, “The local newly elected MLAs and the NCP local unit of Nagaland were of the opinion that we must be part of the government which is going to be headed by Mr N. Rio, Chief of NDPP and Chief Minister of Nagaland in the larger interest of the State of Nagaland and our own good relationship with Mr N. Rio. This was left to the Nationalist Congress Party’s National President Hon’ble Shri Sharad Pawar to be part or not to be part of the Nagaland government. On Tuesday morning, after listening to the North East in-charge, he took the decision to accept the leadership of Mr N. Rio, Chief Minister of Nagaland in the larger interest of the State of Nagaland …”
The NCP is one of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s biggest opponents in Maharashtra and other parts of the country. But, in Nagaland, the party has thrown its weight behind the NDPP-BJP government. With this, Nagaland is marching towards yet another Opposition-less government.
LJP (Ram Vilas), RPI (Athawale), and JD(U) have already submitted letters of support to the alliance partners, sources said.
Similarly, NPF general secretary Achumbemo Kikon, who is also one of the newly elected MLAs, said that though a final decision has not been taken, the party, which has two members, is “likely to extend support to the government”.
In the past, in 2015 and 2021, the state assembly witnessed a similar situation but this would be the first-ever assembly which is set to be an opposition-less one even before the House has been sworn in.
We May Have Opposition-less Govt: Nagaland Dy CM Y Patton
The leader of the BJP Legislature Party and Deputy Chief Chief Minister Y Patton on Wednesday said that although the new government is “comfortable”, it may consider an opposition-less government.
Addressing a press conference at his official residence in Kohima, Patton said that the NDPP-BJP’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) which formed the new government, has received letters of support from various political parties including independent candidates that won seats to the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA).
“We are comfortable with 37 seats. But who knows we may have an opposition-less government,” Patton said responding to a query on if there would be an opposition-less government to facilitate the Naga political issue.
The Deputy Chief Minister added that the present government would continue to facilitate the Naga political issue with all seriousness towards finding a permanent solution.
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