Report: BJP forms alliance with Rio led NDPP in Nagaland

February 3, 2018 333 Views No Comment

NDPP to contest 40 seats, BJP in 20 seats

Local newspaper Nagaland Page has broken the story about the decision of the BJP to form an alliance with the newly formed Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) led by former Chief Minister and present Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Neiphiu Rio.

Describing it as a major setback to the Naga People’s Front (NPF), the report in Nagaland Page states that “the BJP has decided to ditch the NPF in favour of the nascent Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) for the February 27 polls in Nagaland”.

According to sources, the NDPP-BJP alliance was finalized Friday at New Delhi, and will be announced at a press conference in Guwahati on Saturday by BJP in-charge of Nagaland & MoS Home, Kiren Rijiju and NDPP chief ministerial candidate, Neiphiu Rio.

Nagaland Page reports that as per the agreement reached between the two parties, the NDPP and BJP will be sharing seats and there will be no “friendly contest” for any seats between the two. Out of 60 seats in the State assembly, the NDPP will contest in 40 seats and the BJP in 20 seats.

Sources said the State BJP was ready to contest in 35 seats, but general secretary in-charge of Nagaland, Ram Madhav was not willing for the party to contest in more than 20 seats.

Sources also informed that the NPF had offered only seven seats to the BJP in case the two forge an alliance.

After the alliance is announced on Saturday, the BJP and NDPP will start issuing tickets to candidates from Saturday evening onwards, sources informed.

The NPF had earlier said it would soon announce the names of candidates and release the manifesto. Congress is also expected to release first lists of candidates and manifesto within a couple of days. But the party may field candidates in only few seats.

Before finalizing the alliance with NDPP today, the BJP was all set to contest in 35 seats and was prepared to give “friendly contest” to the NPF and other political parties.

The NPF had also maintained that there will be no seat sharing with the Lotus party but there will be “friendly contest” in some constituencies. “We will have a friendly contest in some constituency,” NPF source had said.

But sources also informed that the cock party is finding difficult to field candidates in all 60 constituencies. The same was the case with the NDPP.

As per arrangement with the BJP earlier, the NPF was expected not to contest in Northern Angami-II where State BJP Unit president, Visasolie Lhongu was expected to contest, and in Tizit, the constituency of BJP MLA Paiwang Konyak. Lhongu would fight against Rio.

But with the equation changing now, it would be interesting to see whether the NPF contest from Northern Angami-II constituency, and also how the NDPP and BJP work out seat arrangement for Northern Angami-II constituency considering that NDPP chief ministerial candidate Rio and State BJP president Visasolie both are aspirants from the same constituency.

With the BJP-NDPP alliance now finalized, the coming elections in the State is expected to see mostly triangular contest between the NDPP-BJP, NPF, and other parties like the Congress, JD(U), NPP, AAP, NCP, etc.

The main fight, however, is expected between the NPF and NDPP-BJP alliance.