As the ECI announced the dates for Assembly polls in Nagaland, the BJP said that it had kept its options open for allies in Nagaland and was looking to form a government that would be “helpful in concluding the Naga Accord amicably.”
The BJP general secretary in charge of the north-eastern States, Ram Madhav, told The Hindu that the resignation of former Nagaland Chief Minister and Lok Sabha MP Neiphiu Rio from the ruling Naga People’s Party (NPP) to head the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) had opened options for the BJP.
“In Nagaland, the BJP has kept its options open at the moment. We are serious about bringing a stable and development-focussed government in Nagaland. What happened in the last three-four years was that the government has changed at least three-four times, there are Ministers who have taken oath four times in the last five years.
We are looking for an option which would help us in taking forward and amicably concluding the Naga talks, which have progressed to a great extent. In the present government [with the NPF], our party was the junior partner, and the instability was because of infighting within the NPF. A stable government which is in tune with the Centre will be helpful to the State at this time,” he said.