Letters of support from two winning Members of Legislative Assembly suggested that the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party alliance will form the government in Nagaland, since the numbers together give them a majority. An MLA from the Janata Dal (United) and another independent sent letters supporting the NDPP-BJP alliance, meaning the alliance would have 31 seats in the 60-strong Assembly.

The incumbent Naga People’s Front along with its ally, the National People’s Party, managed to bag a total of 29 seats, just short of the half way mark.

The Naga People’s Front, which had been in power for the previous five years, emerged the largest party but looked unlikely to be in power, as a result of the letters from the other two MLAs. The NDPP won 17 constituencies and its election partner BJP won 12. Before the elections, the BJP had broken its 15-year-old alliance with the Naga People’s Front to tie up with the NDPP, which is headed by former Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. The alliance has declared him its chief ministerial candidate.

The Congress, which had eight seats in the 2013 Assembly elections, did not win any this time

About 39.1% of the electorate in Nagaland voted for the Naga People’s Front in the elections this year. The NDPP’s vote share stood at 25.5%, while 14.4% of the electorate voted for the BJP.

The Congress’ vote share dropped to only 2.1% of the total, as compared to nearly a quarter in the 2013 Assembly elections.