The Congress and the BJP may be each other’s enemy in politics across the country, but not in Nagaland.
Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang, who expanded his Cabinet on Friday, accommodated eight Congress legislators — one was accommodated in the Cabinet, another was made Adviser to the CM with a Cabinet rank, one was made the Deputy Speaker of the legislative Assembly while the remaining five were given the ranks of parliamentary secretaries. The CM has also accommodated two of the Naga Peoples’ Front (NPF) legislators in his Cabinet.
Interestingly, the BJP-which has four members in the 60-member Nagaland legislative Assembly-is also a part of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN), the ruling alliance in the State.
The newly-appointed Congress legislators also include former president of the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) SI Jamir, who had recently resigned from the post on health grounds.
The ruling DAN has 52 members in the 60-member house. While the Naga Peoples’ Front (NPF)-which leads the DAN alliance, has 38 legislators, DAN partner BJP has four members followed by another four members belonging to the JD(U) and NCP.
The eight Congress legislators in the 60-member House were the only Opposition in the Nagaland legislative Assembly.
The development in Nagaland assumes significance as the NPF, which is a leading the DAN alliance in Nagaland, is also a partner of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government at the Centre.
Sources in the Nagaland BJP said BJP national president Amit Shah had made it clear during his recent visit to the State that his party and the Congress cannot be in the same boat.
Sources further said the CM had accommodated the Congress legislators as a mark of respect to their support to him when he faced dissidence from within the party earlier this year.