The BJP on Monday unanimously elected incumbent Deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland Yanthungo Patton as the leader of state’s BJP legislature party.
The decision was taken during a meeting held at Hotel Vivor in Kohima following a meeting with the party’s newly elected members in the presence of Bharatiya Janata Party National Spokesperson and in-charge of Nagaland state Nalin S Kohli, and party central observer and Assam Minister Ranjeet Kumar Das.
This will be Patton’s second innings as the leader of Nagaland BJP legislature party after assuming the post in 2018.
Speaking to a section of media persons in Kohima on Monday, Kohli said that Das had met all the newly elected members personally, before holding a meeting was held, wherein state BJP President Temjen Imna Along proposed Patton’s name for the post BJP legislature party leader and seconded by two incumbent BJP legislators and ministers -- Jacob Zhimomi and P Paiwang Konyak.
Kohli said the state BJP has written a letter of support to Neiphiu Rio-led Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) to form the new government and that all the newly elected members from the party will submit letter of support to Rio.
When asked if the alliance will accommodate other political parties in the new government, he replied: “There is only one alliance in Nagaland that is the NDPP-BJP alliance. We fought it together- 40 were from NDPP and 20 were from BJP.”
Maintaining that the people of Nagaland had voted for peace and development, he said the alliance partners have a desire to see the work continues as a double engine government with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio leading in the state.