PM Modi to attend swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister, new legislators in Nagaland

The new Nagaland government led by the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to be sworn in on March 7 following a convincing performance in the recently conducted state assembly election.

The ruling NDPP-BJP coalition had won 37 out of 60 seats it contested in the state assembly election, results of which were declared on Friday. NDPP won 25 out of 40 seats it contested, which is an increase of seven legislators compared to the 2018 election, while BJP retained its previous figure by winning 12 out of the 20 seats it contested.

The longest serving chief minister of the state, Neiphiu Rio, who was elected leader of the NDPP legislature party on Friday, is all set to retain the office as Chief Minister of Nagaland for a record fifth term.

The swearing-in ceremony of the CM and other members, who were elected to the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA), will be held at Capital Cultural Centre in Kohima on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected legislators.

Highly placed sources informed Eastern Mirror that the Central leadership and chief ministers of the neighbouring states are also likely to attend the event.

Read: Centre working towards removing AFSPA; will deal with extortionists sternly, says Modi in Nagaland

According to sources, the NDPP and the BJP parties are slated to hold its first meeting after the election on Sunday and stake claim to form the government on the following day.

This will be the second innings of the NDPP-BJP alliance after the 2018 general election in the state.

As reported by this newspaper, the NDPP legislature party had on Friday elected Neiphiu Rio as its leader and also endorsed him to form the government. In lieu of the development, Rio on Saturday afternoon offered his resignation to the Governor of Nagaland, La. Ganesan at Raj Bhavan in Kohima as the tenure of the 13th NLA ends on March 12, and it is necessitated to form the new government prior to that. Kohima, March 4 (EMN)