After an impressive performance in the recently concluded state general election, winning 37 seats in the 60-member assembly, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance will form the government in Nagaland for the second straight term today.
Neiphiu Rio, who was unanimously elected as the leader of NDPP legislature party on Saturday, will be sworn in as the chief minister of the state again during a swearing-in ceremony at the Capital Cultural Hall in Kohima.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the CM and council of ministers to the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA).
Other dignitaries who will attend the programme include Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu, Manipur CM N Biren Singh, Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang, BJP National President JP Nadda and Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale.
Home Commissioner Abhijit Sinha informed Eastern Mirror on Monday that Modi will arrive in Kohima on Tuesday after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and his cabinet colleagues in Shillong, Meghalaya.
Modi will be received by officials at the helipad in Kohima before the oath-taking ceremony of the new Nagaland government begins, it was informed. After the programme, the PM will leave for Guwahati on the same day before attending a similar event in Tripura, where the BJP had got majority in the recently concluded assembly election.
Meanwhile, the NDPP-BJP alliance representatives met with Governor La. Ganesan to stake claim for the formation of the next government in Nagaland.
A source from the Raj Bhavan informed this newspaper that the list of cabinet minister for the new government had been submitted to Governor but refused to share further information.
Newly-elected BJP legislator from 15 Southern Angami-II, Kropol Vitsu, told this newspaper that the alliance appointed Neiphiu Rio as the NDPP-BJP alliance legislature leader at a meeting in the State Banquet Hall on Monday, officially paving the way for the longest serving chief minister of the state to occupy the chair again.
When asked about the number of cabinet berth the BJP might get in the new government, he replied that “it is in the dark”. "That very matter will be decided by the BJP high command in consultation with NDPP authority," he added.
‘We cannot make any claim; we cannot ask or we cannot insist on maintaining the same number as the last time (term) as the decision is all in their hands,’ he said.
He said that if the alliance continues previous term’s cabinet allocation on 50-50 basis, the BJP should get six cabinet seats but he has no knowledge of the arrangement this time. "Only concerned authorities from the both parties will decide," he said.
Vitsu apprised that Rio had met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other Central leaders on Sunday in Delhi to discuss the formation of the next government. "They must have finalised everything," he said, adding that the outcome of the meeting "cannot be leaked at the moment”.
The details will be made known only by Monday night or early Tuesday, he said.
When asked if he is anticipating any portfolio, he is optimistic of getting position of an advisor or a cabinet berth.
Meanwhile, sources said that unlike in the previous term where the alliance partners got six cabinet seats each, the NDPP which won 25 seats in the recent election will seven berths and its ally BJP will get five out of the 12 berths.
The NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance with 32 MLAs led by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has staked claim to form the government for the second consecutive term in the state.
NPP, which won 26 out of 59 constituencies that went to the polls last month (election in one constituency withheld over the death of a candidate), will take the lion's share of eight cabinet berths, United Democratic Party (UDP) will get two, while Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) and BJP will get a single berth each in the ministry.
The swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and his cabinet colleagues will also be held on Tuesday.
Nagaland Nagaland