Cracks have started to appear in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) which is a grouping of Uddhav Sena, Congress and NCP. The other partners are upset with the Sharad Pawar-led party as the NCP has joined hands with the BJP and given support to the newly-formed Nagaland government. The NCP has seven MLAs in the Nagaland assembly and after the recently concluded elections, it was expected that it will sit in the opposition. However, the party sprung a surprise by declaring support to Chief Minister N Rio.
The closeness between the NCP and BJP comes close on the heels of Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis recent revelation that the BJP's short-lived government with Ajit Pawar was formed with the full knowledge and support of Sharad Pawar.
Pawar did not deny the claim, but only targeted Fadnavis for the disclosure. Uddhav Thackeray and other leaders of the MVA are distinctly uncomfortable with Pawar's growing fondness for the BJP. “In this way, we cannot form an anti-BJP alliance,” a Shiv Sena source observed.
NDPP-BJP alliance secure 37 seats, NCP gets 7
In the latest elections for the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, the NDPP secured 25 seats while the BJP won 12 seats. Neiphiu Rio took oath as the Chief Minister for the fifth time on Tuesday, and his Cabinet includes seven ministers from NDPP and five from the BJP.
Despite being the most prominent party with seven seats in the Assembly outside of the NDPP-BJP alliance, the NCP has chosen to let go of the opportunity to claim the Leader of the Opposition position. This is because during the visit of the party’s Northeast in-charge, Narendra Verma, to Nagaland last week, the NCP's MLAs expressed their desire to join the government.
NCP announces support to NDPP-BJP govt
Verma declared on Wednesday that their party leader, Sharad Pawar, had granted permission for their backing of the NDPP-BJP government. Without mentioning the BJP in his statement, Verma said: “The local newly elected MLAs and the NCP local unit of Nagaland were of the opinion that we must be part of government which is going to be headed by Mr N. Rio, Chief of NDPP and Chief Minister of Nagaland in the larger interest of the State of Nagaland and our own good relationship with Mr N. Rio. This was left to the Nationalist Congress Party’s National President Hon’ble Shri Sharad Pawar to be part or not to be part of the Nagaland government. On Tuesday morning, after listening to the North East in-charge he took the decision to accept the leadership of Mr N. Rio, Chief Minister of Nagaland in the larger interest of the State of Nagaland …”
Similar to other political parties, the NCP also welcomed incumbent MLAs and potential candidates who were denied tickets by their respective parties in the lead-up to the Nagaland elections. Picto Shohe, the newly designated leader of the NCP legislative party, was elected as an MLA in 2018 on a Naga People's Front (NPF) ticket, but later switched over to the NDPP. However, after the NDPP failed to nominate him as a candidate, he joined the NCP.
The NDPP and BJP have not confirmed if they will include the other political parties in the new government. During a press briefing on Tuesday, Rio mentioned that this matter would be discussed by the new Cabinet.
