Key Points
After piggybacking Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio's Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to gain a solid foothold in Nagaland via its eastern part..
"The BJP is nurturing strongholds in eastern Nagaland, comprising six 'backward' districts and in Wokha district, which are relatively open to non-regional parties," says Vikas Kumar, Associate Professor at Azim Premji University..
When asked why eastern Nagaland is a priority area for the BJP, the party's national spokesperson and Nagaland in-charge Nalin Kohli says, "Since eastern Nagaland is underdeveloped, it is on the government's priority list in terms of developmental schemes and programmes."..
Reminding that as per its alliance with the NDPP, the BJP was contesting only 20 out of the total 60 seats, Nalin Kohli pointed out that the party's core presence was in eastern Nagaland, Mokokchung, Wokha, Zunheboto and Dimapur districts...
The Eastern Nagaland Peoples Organisation (ENPO), the apex council of the tribes of eastern Nagaland, had in August last year given the call for boycotting the 2023 Assembly polls over its demand for a separate state, Frontier Nagaland, comprising the six districts of eastern Nagaland..
