Neiphiu Rio to take oath as Nagaland chief minister

Ending speculations that Nagaland is heading towards a constitutional crisis, Neiphiu Rio is set to take oath as the Indian state’s chief minister on Thursday. As Chief Minister TR Zeliang resigned from his office on Tuesday, the state's Governor Padmanabha Acharya invited Neiphiu Rio of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) to form a new government. As per the Indian Constitution, a candidate needs support from at least 30 elected assembly members to become the Nagaland’s chief minister. “I have received ‘letters of support’ in Rio’s favour from 12 legislators of BJP, one letter from a Janata Dal (United) legislator and another from an independent legislator, besides the 18 legislators of NDPP,” the governor told the reporters. Notably, TR Zeliang’s Naga People’s Front (NPF) won 26 seats in the recent polls. By and large, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly poll has pronounced a fractured verdict.