New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday announced that the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will jointly contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Nagaland.
“Today, me and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio met Home Minister Amit Shah in his Parliament office. Happy to share that BJP and NDPP will jointly contest the forthcoming Assembly elections in Nagaland,” Sarma, who is also the convenor of BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), posted on Twitter.
The CM also posted a joint statement issued by NDPP and BJP in this regard.
Later talking to reporters at the Assam House here, Sarma said that both the parties have decided that NDPP will contest on 40 Assembly constituencies and BJP on 20 seats.
“The leadership of the two parties, led by BJP president JP Nadda and Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio of NDPP, have mutually agreed to continue the alliance with seat-sharing in the forthcoming elections to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly of 40:20, wherein NDPP will contest in 40 seats and BJP will contest in 20 seats. There will be no friendly contest in any constituency,” the joint statement read.
It further said, “A ‘Core Committee’ of NDPP and BJP Members will formulate the election strategy to decide the seats at an appropriate time, to decide on seats, which each party will contest respectively”.
The NDPP-BJP alliance in Nagaland was formed in 2018 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then BJP president Amit Shah.
Assembly elections in Nagaland are slated to be held early next year.
In response to a question over his recent meeting with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, Sarma said, “I met West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to discuss issues of mutual interests and that nothing political must be made of that meeting.”
The CM categorically said that the mission of his government is to build good relations with the neighboring states, including West Bengal.
On the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign, the CM said, “Flying the ‘Tricolour’ proudly at home is our moral duty. Everyone who enjoys rights as a citizen of this great nation should also remember his or her moral responsibilities towards the motherland.”
