KOHIMA: Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio on Saturday tendered his resignation to governor La Ganesan, paving the way for his swearing-in for the top post in the northeastern state for a record fifth term on March 7.
Rio led his Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a comfortable victory in the recently concluded assembly elections, together winning 37 of the 60 seats.
“As my tenure has come to an end, I submitted letter of resignation as Chief Minister of Nagaland to the Hon’ble Governor, Shri @LaGanesan ji,” Rio tweeted.
Rio, who won the Northern Angami-II seat, is the chief-ministerial candidate for the NDPP-BJP alliance.
Rio along with his colleagues will be flying to New Delhi on Sunday to meet the central BJP leaders to work out the formula for the formation of the new government, people familiar with the development told HT.
With NDPP-BJP combine winning 37 seats (NDPP-25, BJP-12), the two partners are likely to get six cabinet berths each without having to adjust with smaller allies, said one of the people, requesting anonymity.
On the new government formation, Nagaland BJP president and legislator Temjen Imna Along said: “We are a party with a national high command, so our central leaders will decide.”