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NDPP eyeing tie up with BJP

By CORRESPONDENT

DIMAPUR, Jan 19 - In the run up to the February 27 Nagaland Assembly polls, the newly formed Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) is eyeing a tie-up with BJP and has announced Lok Sabha MP and former Chief Minister Neiphio Rio as its chief ministerial candidate.

The development follows after reports of ruling Naga People�s Front (NPF) hinting at severing ties with BJP. However, the NPF had rubbished new reports of the party severing ties with the BJP as �mischievous, incorrect and misleading�.

A meeting of the Central Executive Board (CEB) of NDPP endorsed Rio, party president Chingwang Konyak and secretary general Abu Metha to work out modalities of alliance with BJP.

According to reports, BJP is not averse to projecting NDPP chief ministerial candidate Neiphiu Rio as the joint chief ministerial candidate of the alliance. Reports indicate that BJP national president Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh are open to working with Rio. Rio reportedly had also reached out to BJP central leadership earlier.

Rio in a statement on Thursday had even hinted that his resignation from NPF and joining NDPP was because of the decision of NPF to sever ties with BJP, which, he said, is in contravention of NPF party�s earlier stand of supporting the peace process and to play the role of facilitator.

Following Rio�s resignation, vice president of NPF Central Committee and former Minister R Khing resigned from both primary and active membership of NPF and joined NDPP yesterday. Another NPF leader Zale Neikha has also resigned from NPF and joined NDPP yesterday.

More NPF leaders, including legislators, are likely to resign from NPF in the coming days and join NDPP.

Meanwhile, in his first statement after joining NDPP, Rio said he left NPF to join NDPP in the greater interest of the masses to bring early solution to the Naga political problem.

�It is under such political circumstances that I have been left with no option but to resign from NPF in accordance with the wishes of the people,� he said.

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