This was informed by Narendra B Verma, National General Secretary, NCP, Northeast in-charge, during a press conference at Hotel Japfü in Kohima. He was accompanied by NCP Nagaland state unit president Vanthungo Odyuo, newly-elected representatives and other party leaders.
Verma said that the NCP legislature party leader will also be announced only after the meeting with the national party president Sharad Pawar.
He added that he had a closed-door meeting with the elected legislators on Saturday upon his arrival from Delhi and had taken into account the views of the legislators; and will fly back to Delhi today, on Sunday, to meet Pawar.
The decision of the party will be made known in a couple of days, he said while highlighting the importance of having an opposition in democracy to keep a check on the government, hold it accountable and to maintain transparency. In the meantime, he said the newly elected MLAs had apprised him of the ground situation of the state, which he assured to take up with the party supremo.
Read: PM Modi to attend swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister, new legislators in Nagaland
He also asserted the need for development in the state, especially in the constituencies of the newly-elected MLAs.
Dwelling on the performance of the party in the recently concluded state general election, the NCP leader said that the elected representatives from the party won by convincing margins, and that except for one, it gave a good fight with the BJP.
He added that even those who lost were runners-up in their respective constituencies.
The party had won seven out of 12 seats it contested, making it the third single-largest party after NDPP and BJP which won 25 and 12 seats respectively. It has the requisite numbers to be in the opposition bench.
While pointing out that Nagaland needs a lot of development, being an agriculture-based state, Verma said NCP chief Pawar is a farmer and served as the Union Agriculture Minister, during whose tenure, for the first time in free India, the decision was taken to waive off loans of the farmers in the country.
He highlighted the contribution of Pawar when he was the Defence Minister, saying that he opened up opportunities for women to serve the nation in the defence service. He also reminded the party’s role during the UPA government in setting up airports and reviving the Paper Mill at Tuli in Nagaland.
‘NCP is of the opinion that for the development of Nagaland, the farmers of Nagaland should be given strength,’ said the NCP leader.
When asked about the MLAs deserting the party in the past, he replied that switching of parties is a common phenomenon in small states, adding the north-eastern states ‘always want to be in alliance with the ruling Central government’. Kohima, March 4 (EMN)