BJP, NDPP in seats deal for Nagaland poll
While the NDPP will contest in 40 seats, the BJP will contest in 20 seats for the election
Union Minister of State for Home and senior BJP leader Kiren Rijiju yesterday said the BJP has entered into a seat-sharing agreement with the newly-floated National Democratic Peoples’ Party (NDPP) ahead of the February 27 Nagaland Assembly polls.
Rijiju, BJP in-charge for Nagaland elections, accompanied by NDPP supremo former Nagaland Chief Minister and Lok Sabha MP Neiphu Rio, said that while the NDPP will contest in 40 seats, the BJP will contest in 20 seats for the election to the 60-member Nagaland Legislative Assembly.
Rio had recently resigned from the NPF and floated the new regional political party, NDPP.
“I think the BJP and NDPP will be able to get absolute majority in Nagaland in the forthcoming polls and form the next government in the state,” said Rijiju, addressed a press conference at a hotel in Guwahati.
‘NPF not our enemy’
The BJP was a part of the Naga Peoples’ Front (NPF)-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government in Nagaland. The NPF which is the ruling party in Nagaland has also been a partner of the BJPled National Democratic Alliance (NDA) since 2003.
“The NPF is not our enemy and BJP’s relationship with NPF is very old. However, we are not having an alliance with the NPF this time,” said Rijiju when asked about the BJP’s pact with the NPF.
“In the past BJP was just a junior party in Nagaland. However, as the BJP has become a major political force in Nagaland, the seat sharing agreement with NDPP became a necessity ahead of the polls,” he said.