Tale of two Opposition parties in Nagaland | Pawar okays NCP support to NDPP-BJP govt, JD(U) disbands state unit

The NDPP-BJP combine had won 37 out of 60 seats in Nagaland

The ‘Opposition-less' politics of Nagaland has taken a toll on Nitish Kumar-led JD(U), which disbanded its state unit for extending its lone MLA’s support to the ruling NDPP combine.

However, veteran leader Sharad Pawar has okayed NCP support for the coalition that also includes the BJP in the “larger interest of Nagaland and our own good relationship with Neiphiu Rio”.

The NDPP-BJP combine had won 37 out of 60 seats while all other parties which won seats – NCP (7), NPP (5), NPF (2), RPI-A (2), LJP (2), JD-U (1) – and four independents announced support for the coalition, leaving none in the Opposition.

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However, the JD(U) national leadership was upset with its state unit for unilaterally taking a decision without consulting them.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, JD(U) General Secretary Afaque Ahmad Khan said, “the central party came to know that Nagaland State President (NSN Lotha) of our party gave a letter of support to the chief minister of Nagaland without consulting the central party, it is high indiscipline and arbitrary.”

So, he said, the party has dissolved the Nagaland state committee with immediate effect.

However, the NCP did not have any such trouble as the newly elected MLAs and local leadership opined that they must be part of the government headed by Rio "in the larger interest of the state of Nagaland and our own good relationship with Rio".

A statement said the issue of joining the government was left to Pawar, who on Tuesday morning "listened" to the views of the party's north-east incharge Narendra Verma.

Following this, it said, Pawar "took the decision to accept the leadership of Rio in the larger interest of the state of Nagaland and subsequently he also cleared the proposed list of the NCP Legislature Party leader and his team".