Winning camp meets Governor, stakes claim

March 7, 2023 35 Views No Comment

Swearing in ceremony of new govt today

Morung Express News
Dimapur | March 7

While it was clear that Neiphiu Rio will return as the Nagaland Chief Minister and the BJP electing Y Patton as its Legislature Party Leader, secrecy surrounded the membership of the Council of Ministers on March 6.

With barely half a day left for the official swearing-in at 1:30 pm on March 7, sources said that a delegation of the winning camp met the Governor on Monday evening staking claim to form the new government. It was not clear who were part of the delegation with conflicting reports indicating it composed of both NDPP and BJP members, while the Governor’s office was still to issue an official announcement on the visit from the winning camp. According to sources, Rio was under tremendous pressure with regard to the allocation of portfolios.

There was also a report that the new government would likely see two Deputy Chief Ministers— one from the BJP (Y Patton) and the other from the NDPP (TR Zeliang). This was however not officially confirmed with several NDPP and BJP MLAs-elect, who The Morung Express contacted, maintaining they were unaware of such a proposal.

A BJP member stated that he was quite certain that Patton would return as the Deputy CM but was not sure who else would be inducted into the Cabinet.

“There are many aspirants for the various Cabinet posts. Leave it to the wisdom of the Chief Minister,” commented one NDPP member. On the likelihood of Nagaland seeing two Deputy CMs, he said, “I honestly cannot comment on this.”

Another elected NDPP member commented, “I am in the dark as much as you are. I am attending (party) meetings but not the kind where Cabinet portfolios are discussed.” He confirmed that an NDPP delegation met the Governor on Monday evening.

Other sources informed that the BJP President, Temjen Imna Along Longkumer rushed to Guwahati on Monday evening to meet the Assam Chief Minister and North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) Convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma. He was scheduled to return by Tuesday morning to attend the swearing-in ceremony.