KOHIMA — The National People’s Party (NPP) has lost its entire legislative presence in Nagaland after all five of its sitting MLAs formally merged with the Naga People’s Front (NPF), taking the latter’s strength to 39 in the 60-member Assembly.
The Nagaland Legislative Assembly Secretariat notified the merger on October 1, saying the Speaker had declared the five NPP legislators merged with the NPF under Paragraph 4(2) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and the Members of Nagaland Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 2019. The merger takes effect from October 1.
The five MLAs are A. Nyamnyei Konyak of Moka, Nuklutoshi of Arkakong, C. Kipili Sangtam of Seyochung-Sitimi, Dr Tseilhoutuo Rhutso of Kohima Town and Benei M. Lamthiu of Thonoknyu.
The latest move comes less than a year after another major shift inside the Nagaland House.
In October 2025, 31 NDPP MLAs formally merged with the NPF, following the political merger of the two regional parties. Neiphiu Rio was subsequently elected leader of the NPF Legislature Party.
That merger had already transformed the Assembly, taking the NPF Legislature Party to 34 members at the time. The five NPP MLAs joining now pushes the number to 39.
The five-member NPP legislature group has therefore disappeared, while the NPF has expanded further inside the House. In less than a year, two major blocks of MLAs have moved under the NPF banner, dramatically reshaping Nagaland’s Assembly arithmetic.
