Nagaland: Governor asked Neiphiu Rio to form the Govt.galand Governor
KOHIMA : Former Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and BJP leader Ram Madhav on Sunday met Governor PB Acharya to stake claim to form the government.
Neiphiu Rio has the majority and should form the government, Nagaland Governor P.B. Acharya said on Monday after a meeting with the NDPP leader, who claimed he has the support of 32 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly.
Mr. Acharya said he has asked Mr. Rio to submit signatures of all the 32 MLAs supporting him by March 5. A senior leader of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), an ally of the BJP, said Mr. Rio, in his meeting with the Governor, staked claim to form the government in Nagaland saying he has the support of 32 MLAs. Mr. Rio has the majority and should form the government, Mr. Acharya said after the meeting.
The BJP and its new partner Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) will form the government in the state with the help of two candidates who offered their support soon after the assembly results were announced.
The BJP and the NDPP together bagged 29 seats in Nagaland, as did outgoing chief minister TR Zeliang’s Naga People’s Front (NPF), just two seats short of getting a majority. However, independent candidate Tongpang Ozukum and the Janata Dal (United) Nagaland decided to help the BJP reach the 31 mark in the 60-member assembly.
The NDPP and the BJP have won 18 and 12 seats respectively while the lone JD(U) MLA G. Kaito Aye and Independent legislator Tongpang Ozukum were backing the alliance, NDPP secretary general Abu Metha said.
Mr Zeliang had said his party would be happy to form a new government with its old ally, the BJP. But the BJP in its pre-election alliance chose Neiphiu Rio’s new party and projected him as presumptive chief minister.
For the BJP, forming government in Nagaland will mean consolidating its position further in the north east. It has posted a big win in Tripura on Saturday, uprooting the CPM after 25 years of rule and ending the 20-year run of the Left party’s Manik Sarkar as chief minister.
About 39.1% of the electorate in Nagaland voted for the Naga People’s Front in the elections this year. The NDPP’s vote share stood at 25.5%, while 14.4% of the electorate voted for the BJP. The Congress’ vote share dropped to only 2.1% of the total, as compared to nearly a quarter in the 2013 Assembly elections.(With Agency Inputs).
