NPF formally joins Nagaland govt, clears path for merger with ruling NDPP

Kohima, Oct 14 (PTI) In a major political development, the Naga People's Front on Tuesday officially joined the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) government led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, marking the beginning of a long-anticipated realignment between the NPF and the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP).

NPF secretary general Achumbemo Kikon told PTI here that the two MLAs of the party had been extending outside support to the PDA, a coalition formed by the NDPP and the BJP ahead of the 2023 assembly election.

The NPF and the NDPP are the two influential regional parties of the northeastern state.

"The president of the NPF hereby promulgates this ordinance to the effect that the NPF shall officially join the People’s Democratic Alliance Government under the leadership of Dr Neiphiu Rio, Chief Minister of Nagaland,” Kikon said in a statement.

The development comes amid heightened political activity ahead of the proposed merger of the NDPP and NPF into a single entity.

The chief minister, accompanied by Parliamentary Affairs and Power Minister KG Kenye, paid a courtesy visit to veteran regional leader Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu, former NPF president and an ex-chief minister, earlier in the day.

Later, Rio said in an X post: “I visited Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu to pay my respects to my elder and seek his blessings for the political journey ahead. I thank him for his guidance and wish him good health and long life.” The symbolic meeting has been widely viewed as a gesture of reconciliation and continuity within Nagaland’s tradition, often marked by splits and ideological shifts.

Rio, who revived the NPF after resigning as the home minister from the then SC Jamir-led Congress government in 2002, became the chief minister in the 2003 assembly elections.

However, he parted ways with the NPF in 2017 during Liezietsu’s tenure as party president to form the NDPP, which ended the NPF’s three consecutive terms in power by winning the 2018 state elections in alliance with the BJP.

The NDPP, which has 32 MLAs in the 60-member House, has announced plans to hold a general convention to formalise the merger with the NPF, which has two MLAs.

Both parties have scheduled their conventions in Kohima — the NDPP on October 18, and the NPF on October 21, coinciding with the NPF’s 63rd foundation day. The NPF convention will also serve as the official merger, effectively uniting the two parties under one banner.

While the NDPP leadership has maintained silence on the matter, Kikon recently asserted that the move goes beyond numbers or political arithmetic.

“What is important is that regional parties come together to show solidarity, advance the common aspiration of the Naga people, and strengthen the state’s regional political landscape,” Kikon added. PTI NBS NN