Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio, Assam CM meet Shah, Nadda ahead of swearing-in ceremony

Kohima: Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the new government to be held on Tuesday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kohima, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and outgoing Chief Minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda in New Delhi.

“Hon CM of Nagaland Mr @Neiphiu_Rio met Hon Home Minister of India @AmitShah ji & @BJP4India National President Adarniya @JPNadda ji to express his gratitude for their support during Nagaland Assembly polls. He further invited both of them to his oath-taking ceremony on 7 March,” Sarma wrote on Twitter.

Neiphiu Rio and Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), rushed to Delhi after Rio submitted his resignation as the Chief Minister. After the high-profile meeting, the Neiphiu Rio-led Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) is expected to sit for a joint meeting with its alliance partner BJP before the swearing-in of the new government. 

Notably, the NDPP-BJP, which entered into a pre-poll alliance in 2018, continued with the alliance in the 2023 assembly polls on a 40:20 seat-sharing formula. While BJP retained 12 seats, the same number of seats it won in 2018, the NDPP took a lead with 25 seats in the recently concluded election from 18 in 2018. The alliance partner secured a total of 37 seats but is yet to stake a claim in forming a new government.

While the NDPP had endorsed Rio as the party’s leader, the BJP has so far made no mention of the leader of the legislature party.

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