Nagaland again opts for an Opposition-less govt

KOHIMA: The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a major ally of the government, and the opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) agreed in principle to form an opposition-less “Nagaland United Government” along with two Independent legislators on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said.

The decision was taken in a meeting held at the residential office of chief minister Neiphiu Rio with representatives of all political parties involved.

When asked about the new development, state BJP president Temjen Imna Along said “we are in positive consultation” without divulging further details.

On July 19, the NPF had passed a resolution for an allparty government and endorsed it to the chief minister for necessary consideration in the interest of the Naga political solution.

Although Nagaland’s legislators are not directly involved in the peace talks, subsequent elected members, across party lines, over the years have held ground that they would play a facilitating role for settlement of the Indo-naga issue.

This is not the first time that the state is going to have an opposition-less government. During the third tenure of the Npf-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland in 2015, Congress MLAS had joined the government and subsequently merged with the ruling NPF.

However, this time the NPF MLAS asserted that they would not merge with any party. “We are talking about an all-party government, a coalition, where we will maintain our respective party ideologies,” a senior NPF legislator said, wishing not to be named.

Recently, the state government had formed a parliamentary committee to facilitate the ongoing peace discussions between the Centre and Naga armed groups.