2023 Nagaland Assembly Election: 5 Points to NDPP Leader G Kaito Aye

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have reached another seat-sharing agreement for the 2023 elections in Nagaland. The NDPP-BJP alliance came to power in Nagaland after the 2018 polls with support from the Janata Dal (United) and an independent. This time, the NDPP is contesting 40 seats, while its ally is eyeing the remaining 20 seats in the northeastern state. Since the NDPP won 17 of the 40 seats it contested in the last election, the party has welcomed several MLAs from other parties, boosting its numbers in the Assembly. State Minister of Agriculture and Cooperation G Kaito Aye is one of the most prominent faces of the NDPP ahead of the parliamentary elections. Here are five points about him.

• G Kaito Aye wins against Satakha (ST) Assembly constituency since 1998. He ran on a congressional ticket in 1998 and 2003. G Kaito Aye held the seat in 2008 and 2013 as a candidate of the Naga People’s Front (NPF). He was deployed by the JD(U) in 2018 and once again emerged victorious from his bastion.
• G. Kaito Aye is currently Minister of Agriculture and Cooperation in the government led by Neiphiu Rio. He was appointed Minister of Industry and Commerce in the NPF government in 2013. The senior leader also held the state highway and political affairs and the roads and bridges portfolios.
• In 2015, G Kaito Aye was one of the NPF legislators who demanded a change in leadership months after TR Zeliang took charge as Chief Minister of Nagaland. He led the insurgent MLAs and was later sacked by the party along with other dissidents.
• In 2017, G Kaito Aye was one of 10 MLAs suspended by then Prime Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu. The move came after demands for the removal of the prime minister.
• The 70-year-old politician left the NPF to join JD(U) in February 2018, just days before parliamentary elections. He switched to the ruling NDPP in 2019. He is fighting from the Satakha constituency for the 2023 parliamentary elections.

On February 27, a vote will be held for the 60 seats in the Nagaland Assembly. The results will be announced on March 2 along with Tripura and Meghalaya.