Rio to begin his fifth innings as chief minister

On January 3, 2008 however, President’s Rule was imposed in the state after allegations of horse trading and Rio’s government was dismissed.

On Thursday evening, as it became clearer and clearer that the NDPP-BJP combine had sailed comfortably past the majority mark in Nagaland, winning 36 of the 60 seats in the assembly, the supporters of chief minister Neiphiu Rio began their celebrations in Kohima. For the man that has been at the centre of Nagaland’s politics for over close decades though, the scenes would not have been unusual. The next Nagaland government will be the fifth that Rio will lead as chief minister, across the two principal regional parties, the fates of which have ebbed and flowed around his political decisions.

Neiphiu Rio first entered the political limelight as a young man of 24 when he became the president of the youth wing of the erstwhile United Democratic Party. (PTI)

Rio first entered the political limelight as a young man of 24 when he became the president of the youth wing of the erstwhile United Democratic Party. 15 years later, Rio first tasted electoral victory from Northern Angami 1 in Kohima district, fighting elections on a Congress ticket, then under the leadership of chief minister SC Jamir. Since then, he has won the seat seven times, losing only once.

In 1999, Rio broke away from the Congress, accusing them of dallying on the long-standing Naga political issue, that has yet to see a resolution, and revived the “Nagaland People’s Front”, and four years later was one of the chief architects of the formation of an alliance called the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland in 2003 that included other regional allies and the BJP. The alliance won the assembly elections and Rio became CM for the first time, ending Congress rule.

On January 3, 2008 however, President’s Rule was imposed in the state after allegations of horse trading and Rio’s government was dismissed. Yet, two months later, after fresh elections were called, the NPF emerged the single largest party, he became Chief Minister again, a feat he repeated for the third time in 2013. But in 2014, facing a challenge from TR Zeliang from within his party ranks, Rio fought the Lok Sabha elections, won and moved to Delhi.

Even as some begun to write his epitaph in Nagaland’s politics, Rio returned to the state in 2018, months ahead of the assembly elections, and formed the NDPP. Even as Zeliang’s NPF and the NDPP both wooed the BJP, it was Rio that engineered an alliance with the national party now helmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. The seat sharing agreement weighed in favour of the NDPP, with it contesting 40 seats, and the BJP fighting in 20. The alliance won 30 seats(NDPP 18 and BJP 12), and despite the NPF being the single largest party with 26 seats, earned the support of one independent and one JD(U) MLA to form government.

In this most recent tenure, Rio’s political abilities were on show again, when he convinced the NPF to ally with the government to leave the assembly virtually opposition-less. Then, in April (last year), 21 NPF MLA’s, led by his former foe TR Zeliang merged with the NDPP. Zeliang, for instance, fought and won the 2023 elections from Peren on an NDPP ticket.

Ahead of the seat sharing conversations with the BJP, Rio faced murmurs of dissent from the local unit of his ally the BJP, who argued that the national party had grown in strength and deserved more seats in the alliance. Yet, when the numbers were finally announced, the arrangement was the same as 2013, and the NDPP fought 40 seats and the BJP 20.

“Rio is a shrewd politician, aided by money power... lack of a strong political leader who can challenge him has also enabled him to ride the tides of changing political waves through the years,” said political observer P Basil.

“Rio is an astute politician and has always had a sense of the ground. He will continue to call the shots for the considerable future,” said Sebastian Zumvü, political expert and former aide of former CM Jamir.