GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 9th March. Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) announced its support for Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphu Rio on Wednesday, but stopped short of saying whether it would form part of the government.
After a meeting with Pawar and Baramati Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule on Tuesday, NCP general secretary Narendra Verma said the NCP chief had decided to accept the leadership of Chief Minister Rio “in the larger interest of the state of Nagaland”.
The BJP, which is also a coalition partner of Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP, was not mentioned in an NCP statement on Wednesday.
“On Tuesday morning, after listening to the Northeast in-charge, he took the decision to accept the leadership of Mr N. Rio, Chief Minister of Nagaland, in the larger interest of the state of Nagaland,” Verma said in the statement.
The NCP performed the best among the opposition parties, winning seven of the twelve seats it ran for in the recent assembly elections.
On March 4, the first meeting of the NCP’s Nagaland legislature party in Kohima, there was a discussion about whether the party should be a part of the government or serve as the main opposition.
According to the NCP, the newly-elected MLAs and its local unit believe the party must be a part of the government for the sake of the state and the good relationship its MLAs have with Rio.
Pawar also approved the nomination of NCP MLA Picto Shohe to lead the NCP Legislature Party in Nagaland.
Shohe was elected as a Naga Peoples Front MLA in 2018. He later joined Rio’s NDPP before defecting to the NCP after being denied a ticket to run in elections.
Nagaland appeared to be on the frontlines of a government supported by all political parties, as Rio was backed by the NPP, NPF, LJP (Ram Vilas), RPI (Athawale), JD (United), and Independents.
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