Current ministry setup of PDA should not be disturbed
After attracting flak from a cross section of society including rival political parties– Congress, NPP, RPP in the state– the proposed all-party government (Nagaland United Government) sans any opposition, got the much awaited nod from the national BJP leadership but not without state chief minister Neiphiu Rio and state BJP legislature party leaders spending anxious days.
According to sources, the chief minister will brief the NDPP legislators and party leaders at the party meeting on September 8 and brief members about the outcome of his meeting with BJP leaders in Delhi. Rio will also share BJP’s insistence that the present ministry set up in Nagaland should not be disturbed. Sources said this means that no NPF legislator(s) would be included in the cabinet.
BJP leaders– deputy CM Y. Patton and state BJP chief and minister higher education & tribal affairs Temjen Imna Along were camped in Delhi from August 21.
It may be recalled that on August 11, PDA constituents (NDPP, BJP & Independents) and opposition NPF resolved to form the NUG. However the rank and file of BJP even including most legislators were not enthusiastic about the all-party and ‘opposition-less’ government. The state BJP was apprehensive about having to sacrifice some chairs in order to accommodate the NPF in the ministry.
The national BJP high command on the other hand, was not happy with the objective of the proposal- ‘coming together for Naga political issue’. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had purportedly questioned the objective of ‘unity/coming together for Naga political issue’ since all legislators were already banded together under the Core Committee for Naga political issue.
Earlier, Rio had met with Shah on August 21 in Delhi after being summoned to explain the all-party resolution adopted on August 13. The BJP leaders purportedly asked Rio to return to Delhi after a week with concrete reason about the move.
Before Rio flew back to Delhi on August 31, the NPF and NDPP on August 28, reaffirmed to uphold the joint resolution of PDA partners and NPF for a ‘Nagaland United Government’.
The national BJP leaders reportedly gave the nod after the second round of meeting between chief minister Neiphiu Rio and state BJP leaders–Y. Patton and Imna Along in Delhi on September 5 evening. Highly placed sources informed Nagaland Post, that the development came after a meeting between Rio and Amit Shah in Delhi on Sunday night in the presence of Assam chief minister & NEDA convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma and minister of Agriculture & Cooperation G. Kaito Aye.
Later, Rio held another meeting on September 6 evening with BJP national president JP Nadda at the latter’s residence where Amit Shah, Patton, Imna Along were also present. Rio returned to Dimapur on Tuesday while the NDPP party has convened an emergency meeting on September 8 to deliberate on the issue. It was also disclosed that the outcome and resolution of the NDPP will be made known to the BJP leaders in Delhi.