Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio Resigns Along With His Council of Ministers Friday May 23,2014

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who has been the chief minister of Nagaland for more than 11 years, tendered his resignation along with that of his Council of Ministers to Governor Ashwani Kumar at Raj Bhavan following his landslide victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Neiphiu Rio defeated closest Congress rival KV Pusa by 4,00,225 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, which is the second highest winning margin after Narendra Modi in the country. 

His resignation letter read, "I hereby tender the resignation of the Council of Ministers of Nagaland government being headed by me, with immediate effect."

He was accompanied by chief minister-designate TR Zeliang, Naga People's Front (NPF) president and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kuzholuzo Nienu.

The Governor told media-persons that he had accepted Mr Rio's resignation. He, however, requested Mr Rio to continue in office till an alternative arrangement was made.

Chief Minister Designate Zeliang had been holding charge of Minister for Planning and Coordination and other few departments under Neiphiu Rio's government and is slated to stake claim to form the next

Democratic Alliance of Nagaland-III (DAN-III) ministryWith the change of leadership, reshuffle in the DAN-III ministry is also inevitable.

DAN consists of 52 MLAs in the 60-member state Assembly.

While NPF is the major constituent of DAN with 38 members, pre-poll allies BJP and JD(U) have one MLA each. Four NCP legislators and eight independent MLAs also joined the ruling front in 2013.