KOHIMA: Nagaland's sole Lok Sabha MP Neiphiu Rio on Friday resigned from the Parliament after he was declared uncontested to the 60-member state assembly this week.
In a statement issued here, Rio, who won the 2014 Lok Sabha election on Naga People's Front (NPF) ticket, said he has submitted his resignation to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
Last month, Rio, a three-time Nagaland Chief Minister, resigned from the primary membership of the ruling NPF and joined the newly floated Nagaland Democratic People's Party (NDPP). The party declared him its Chief Ministerial candidate.
The NDPP-BJP has stitched a pre-poll alliance for the February 27 assembly elections. The BJP is contesting in 20 assembly seats while the NDPP in the remaining 40 seats.
Rio was declared uncontested after his lone rival, Chupfuo Angami of the ruling NPF, withdrew his nomination on Monday.
It was the second time that Rio has won the assembly elections uncontested. The first time he won uncontested was a Congress candidate in 1998, when the separatist National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) and Naga Hoho had called for a poll boycott after it signed a ceasefire with the Indian government in 1997.