The Naga People’s Front on Tuesday said it will not sever ties with its ally Bharatiya Janata Party as it had announced earlier, PTI reported. The party also announced TR Zeliang (pictured above) as its chief ministerial candidate.

Nagaland will go to polls on February 27 and the votes will be counted on March 3. The party’s Central Executive Council met in Kohima on Tuesday, when the leaders resolved to maintain the alliance with the BJP as it was “desired by different sections of people”. It said the decision was made as there was an urgency to “create a congenial atmosphere” for the ongoing Naga talks.

“The CEC deliberated at length the cause that prompted the party to take such decision and concluded that it was taken to protect the constitutional rights of the citizens at a time when there were misunderstanding from within the party,” the resolution said.

On the seat sharing proposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Naga People’s Front said it agreed with the party “in principle”, but details will have to be worked out through proper exercises.

Earlier in January, the ruling Naga People’s Front had said it will sever ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party because the saffron party was “fomenting instability” in the state for its own “selfish ends in the near future”. The BJP had responded saying it had kept its options for an alliance open.