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Putting an end to months of speculations around the number of constituencies the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would contest in the upcoming Nagaland Assembly election, the allies on Thursday finalised on a 40:20 seat-sharing formula, as was in the 2018 state election.
The NDPP and BJP had in July last year said in a joint statement that it would continue the alliance in the 2023 election too with the former to contest in 40 seats and latter in 20 with no “friendly contest” in any constituency, in the 60-member Assembly, but some legislators expressed disappointment over the arrangement, thus triggering speculations if the pact would remain intact.
However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said after a meeting between the BJP leaders and NDPP leaders including Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio in New Delhi, that a seat sharing arrangement had been finalised.
"The NDPP would field candidates in 40 seats and the BJP would contest in the remaining 20 seats in Nagaland. BJP would go alone in Meghalaya. Another BJP team has been looking after the seat sharing and alliance affairs of Tripura," Sarma was quoted as saying by IANS.
He was accompanied by the leaders of Nagaland BJP when the announcement was made.
It may be mentioned that in the 2018 Nagaland Assembly election, the NDPP had won 18 seats out of the 40 constituencies it contested in, while its ally BJP won 12 out of 20. The pre-poll allies went on to form the government on March 8 with the support of smaller parties and an Independent, before an all-party government was formed last year.