Kohima: Nagaland's stalwart Neiphiu Rio was sworn in as the state's chief minister for the record fifth term by Governor La Ganesan on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the swearing-in ceremony along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP party president J P Nadda. This is the first time any central minister participated in the oath-taking ceremony in the northeastern state.
The event took place amid tight security arrangements at the Capital Cultural Hall. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu, Manipur CM N Biren Singh, Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang, and Union Minister of State Ramdas Athawale attended the low-key swearing-in ceremony. This was in contrast to the 2018 swearing-in ceremony of the Rio-led coalition, which was a massive open public event at the Local Ground last time.
Earlier in the day PM Modi attended the swearing-in of Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma who held on to the top job in the state for the second consecutive term. Modi is also slated to attend the swearing-in ceremony at Tripura during his two-day trip to the northeast.
The Rio-saffron coalition bagged 37 of the total 60 seats in the Legislative Assembly election held on February 27. While Rio's Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) won 25 seats marginally improving its performance from the last election, the BJP managed to hold on to 12 seats. Neiphiu Rio who was contesting from Northern Angami-II seat and had never lost an election from this constituency, defeated Congress's Seyievilie Sachu by a huge margin of 15,824 votes.
Rio met the Governor on Monday evening after the NDPP and BJP leaders submitted their joint declaration for government formation and support to him. The BJP Legislature Party unanimously re-elected Yanthungo Patton as their leader in the state assembly. He was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister.
