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Shurhozelie Liezietsu on Wednesday took oath as the new chief minister of Nagaland heading a 12-member Democratic Alliance of Nagaland ministry.
Liezietsu, who succeeded T R Zeliang, was administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor P B Acharya at a function in Raj Bhavan in Kohima.
Eleven other ministers also took oath with 81-year-old Liezietsu. They were Kiyanilie Peseyie, Yanthungo Patton, P Longon, C Kipili Sangtam, C L John, Yitachu, Paiwang Konyak, Vikheho Swu, Chotisuh Sazo, Imkong L Imchen and G Kaito Aye.
Imkong L Imchen and G Kaito Aye are the new faces in the ministry.
Liezietsu is not a member of the Nagaland Legislative assembly and he will have to get elected within six months from taking office.
Earlier, Liezietsu was unanimously elected as the leader of Democratic Alliance of Nagaland legislature party at its meeting on Monday which was attended by 59 legislators.
Nagaland has a 60-member assembly.
Liezietsu, also the NPF President, succeeds T R Zeliang who stepped down on Sunday amidst protests by various tribal organisations against the state government’s decision to reserve 33 per cent seats for women in urban local body elections.
Liezietsu had been member of the Nagaland Legislative assembly for eight terms and had not contested the 2013 assembly elections.
He is also chairman of the ruling DAN alliance.
Liezietsu is not only a politician but also an eminent scholar, author and a linguist.
The 81-year old Liezietsu, eight-term MLA and the chairman of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland, had joined politics in 1969.
He began his political career as a member of Nagaland Legislative assembly in 1969 from northern Angami-I under Kohima district.
During his long political career, he held different portfolios, including education, planning and coordination and urban development.
Liezietsu was the minister for higher education till 2013.
He has authored 42 books on poetry, novels, drama and translations. Several of his books are part of the syllabus in Nagaland University.
An eminent scholar, he is one of the most decorated educationists in Angami (the native language of the Angami tribe) literature.
Liezietsu belongs to the Angami tribe, one of the 16 major tribes in Nagaland.
President of Ura Academy, the state’s highest literary body, he was conferred an honorary D.Litt. by the Nagaland University in 2003.
After initial schooling in Mission Public School, Kohima, he did his matriculation in 1956 from Kohima Government High School and graduation from the prestigious St. Edmund’s College, Shillong.