The two major regional parties of Nagaland – the Naga People’s Front (NPF) and Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), formed in 2017 by NPF rebels who supported Rio – merged under the NPF banner on Saturday.

Announcing the merger during the NDPP’s General Convention, Rio said the decision was driven by a “shared vision” of “one strong regional party that represents our people’s aspirations and addresses the Naga political issue more effectively.”

Later in the day, Rio was named the newly elected Leader of the NPF Legislature Party. The NDPP held 32 of the 60 seats in the Nagaland assembly, while the NPF had two. The NDPP and the BJP , which has 12 MLAs, were coalition partners in the Nagaland government. Earlier this week, the NPF was formally ind

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