An MLA of the Naga People’s Front (NPF), whose members used to sit in the Opposition until August 2021, was sworn in on Wednesday as a Cabinet Minister in the Nagaland coalition government headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
Y.M. Yollow Konyak was accommodated to fill a berth vacated by C.M. Chang of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), who died in October 2020.
He was sworn in by Nagaland Governor Jagdish Mukhi at the Raj Bhavan in State capital Kohima in the presence of Mr. Rio, his predecessor and newly-appointed chairman of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), T.R. Zeliang, the Ministers and other legislators.
Mr. Zeliang, a senior NPF leader, said the induction of an MLA from his party reflected the “meaning of an Opposition-less government”.
But UDA insiders said that in Mr. Konyak’s induction was a message from the NDPP to its minor partner, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The BJP’s State unit had reportedly been parleying with the NPF a year ago to keep the NDPP in check. But Mr. Rio is said to have turned the tables by offering the NPF to become part of the government on the pretext of pursuing the “Naga political issue” together. The NPF took the offer in August 2021.
The issue pertains to the peace process with the extremist Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland and a conglomerate of the rival Naga National Political Groups.
The BJP has 12 MLAs in the Nagaland Assembly but has six Ministers. With one berth going to the NPF, the NDPP has five Ministers now.
The State can have 12 Ministers at most.
“There’s a reason why the BJP has 50% berth in the Ministry. But that does not mean it can call the shots all the time,” an UDA leader said.
