No opposition in Nagaland House for second time as all parties support govt

GUWAHATI: There will be no opposition in the Nagaland assembly for a second time as all political parties have offered their support to CM Neiphiu Rio, but it's not clear whether they will be included in the government or considered "outside support" until a decision by the NDPP-BJP alliance, according to Nagaland deputy CM Y Patton of BJP.
Nagaland was "opposition-less" in 2021 too and was governed by an all-party government after renaming the People's Democratic Alliance government of NDPP-BJP as the United Democratic Alliance (UDA). The sole party in the opposition then - NPF with 26 MLAs - joined the government along with an independent.

The state took the same path after the February 27 polls, with NDPP-BJP winning 37 seats in the 60-member assembly. "Since the MLAs of most parties have submitted their letters of support to the government, who knows when we will have an opposition-less government. When the elected members give outside support, we will have to discuss and only after discussion will we take a decision. At present, we are comfortable with 37 seats," Patton said.
As many as eight parties, four of them from outside the Northeast, have won in the just-concluded polls. Sharad Pawar's NCP, which is the third largest party with seven MLAs after BJP's 20, has extended support to the Rio government. So have NPP with three MLAs, and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas and Ramdas Athawale-led Republican Party of India, with two each, which are with NDA. The lone JD(U) MLA has also backed the government.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said all parties in the Northeast will eventually have to support the "country's tallest leader" PM Narendra Modi. Sarma, however, declined comments when asked if Nitish Kumar will re-return to the NDA.