A 34-year-long stint in politics, and that too, in the insurgency-hit state of Nagaland, is surely a feat that Neiphiu Rio (58), a product of Sainik School, Purulia, can boast of as he heads towards the post of chief minister for the second consecutive term. “We have requested the Governor to make the necessary arrangements so that our new government can take oath on Tuesday morning,” said Rio, after meeting Governor K Sankaranarayanan at Kohima on Sunday afternoon.Rio’s Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) has won 26 seats against 19 that it had bagged in 2003. Two other DAN partners, the BJP and the NCP, have won two seats each, taking the tally of the alliance to 30. While the result of one seat is yet to be declared, Rio has got the “unconditional” support of four out of the six Independents who accompanied him to the Raj Bhavan — C K Nihoshe, Ngangshi K Ao, P Dako Phom and Chotisuh Sazo. Earlier in the day, he was re-elected leader of the legislature party of the DAN that met at a tourist resort 15 km outside Kohima.Rio had joined politics in 1974 as president of the Kohima District Youth Congress. First elected to the Assembly in 1989, Rio has continued to represent the Northern Angami-2 constituency without a break. He was Home Minister in the Congress Government, led by SC Jamir, but quit the Assembly and the party in September 2002 to join the NPF.
