BJP Nagaland poll plan includes seat-sharing with NDPP

'We are confident of a decent number of seats if we are in alliance with the NDDP,' a lawmaker from Nagaland said

Seat-sharing with its key ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the Naga Peace Talks will feature big during the Bharatiya Janata Party’s preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in Nagaland. The BJP is part of the government in the state in alliance with the NDPP, and the elections in the state are scheduled to be held in February.

Last week, during his visit to the Northeastern state, union home minister Amit Shah reiterated the party’s seat-sharing arrangement with NDDP where it will contest on 20 of the state’s 60 assembly segments, leaving 40 for the regional party headed by state chief minister Neiphiu Rio. However, some leaders from the state unit had advised the party to go solo, advice which the party’s central command did not pay heed to.

“We are confident of a decent number of seats if we are in alliance with the NDDP, and concentrate on the 20 seats allotted to us. But, Nagaland being a Christian-majority state, could prove to be difficult for the party if we fight alone. There are fears in certain quarters that we might dip to a single-digit tally,” a lawmaker from Nagaland said.

Rio, till a while ago, was a part of the BJP when the party was in power in the state in the last term in alliance with the TR Zeliang-led Naga People’s Front. In 2018, the party broke the alliance with NPF to join hands with the newly-formed NDDP, winning 12 seats, while NDDP won 18 seats. Both the parties formed the government with the help of two MLAs from the National People’s Party, which is led by Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma. The two NPP MLAs in Nagaland later joined the NDDP.

The solution for the Naga Peace Talks have cropped up in some quarters, with the Central Nagaland Tribal Council, the authoritative body of the Ao, Lotha, Sema tribes in Central Nagaland, calling for a meeting with all Naga bodies, suggesting that there should be a solution first, before the state heads to the elections. The areas under CNTC account for over 25 seats in the assembly, and have the potential to build pressure.

Additionally, leaders from Eastern Nagaland along the Myanmar border, which account for over 20 seats in the state, have been demanding a separate Frontier Nagaland state, a demand that has gathered more ground as the elections head near. A majority of the seats in the region are reserved seats.

To add to that, leaders from the state BJP unit told DH that NDDP leaders have time and again expressed concern about the BJP playing the role of a big brother in the alliance. “After the polls, the party’s demand for six Cabinet positions were respected, and we got some of the plum portfolios of home, health, public health engineering, tourism, transport and Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA). But the bargaining will be tough for us this term,” a local leader from Nagaland BJP said, adding that the central command has not yet announced if Y Patton, the BJP Legislative Party chief and deputy CM, will lead the party this term.

State unit leaders have also expressed fears of trouble when the discussions for the seats either party will contest will come up.