Our Correspondent
Kohima, April 25 (EMN): Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Monday announced that the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which entered into a pre-poll alliance in 2018, will continue the pact even in the upcoming 2023 assembly election.
The announcement draws significance as the state legislative assembly election is likely to be held in March 2023, less than a year from now.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of foundation stone laying programme of Kohima Village Multipurpose (KVM) building in Kohima, the chief minister also revealed that the NDPP and BJP will follow the same seat-sharing formula that was struck in 2018 election.
The NDPP contested in 40 seats, out of which it won 17 seats, while BJP won 12 seats out of the 20 it contested in the 60-member assembly in 2018.
The president of BJP Nagaland unit, Temjen Imna Along, also said that the pre-poll alliance between the NDPP and BJP would continue and the People's Democratic Alliance (PDA) will come to power again in 2023.
“That is what our (BJP) Central leaders want and that is what is going to happen,” he added.
In a letter to the chief minister, Deputy CM and leader of BJP Legislature Party in Nagaland, Y Patton also reassured that he along with all the BJP Legislators would stand firm to the pre-poll alliance commitments with the NDPP.
Speaking on the Naga political issue, the chief minister said that ‘the issue is not totally resolved so Indian government’s interlocutor for Naga peace talks, AK Mishra had come to the state and had talks with all the negotiating parties and also consulted with some senior leaders’. ‘So, let us see,’ he added.
Reiterating his statement in the recent NLA Budget session, Rio said ‘if the Naga movement needs to continue, we should take a fresh mandate, to whether the movement should be with arm or violence or non violence’.
Maintaining that today, people want peace and development, he said their voice should be heard and that ‘mandate once given cannot be taken forever’. Meanwhile, Rio also informed that a few of them had met Mishra, listened to the opinion of the Centre from him, while they advised him on how things should be handled, ‘pointing out that situation is very sensitive’.