The party was established as the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in May 2017. In October 2017, the DPP changed its name to Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party. In January 2018, former Chief Minister
Neiphiu Rio joined the party after the
Naga People's Front broke its ties with the
Bharatiya Janata Party for the
2018 Nagaland Legislative Assembly election. The NDPP then formed an alliance with the BJP for the election. Within the same month, 10 NPF MLAs quit the party and began negotiations with the NDPP. In the
2018 Nagaland Legislative Assembly election, the NDPP won 18 seats with 253,090 votes and 25.20% vote share. They then came to power in a coalition with the BJP, with Rio as chief minister. On April 29, 2022, 21
Naga People's Front Nagaland MLAs joined the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party; this increased the number of NDPP MLAs to 42. In the
2023 Nagaland Legislative Assembly election, the NDPP emerged as the single largest party and won 25 seats with 369,143 votes and 32.22% vote share. It's ally BJP won 12 seats. Thus, the alliance secured a majority. In 2025, the party was merged with the
Naga People's Front. == Electoral performance ==