Tightening knots of strong alliance, BJP ties up with allies for the upcoming LS polls in Northeast

Guwahati, March 13: With the developments scaling in Northeast, the dream of New India is no more a dream but turning into reality. From railway lines to airport corridors, Northeast states have marked its presence on the map. Continuing the legacy of backing prosperity and growth, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has got back its ally-the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)-in Assam and will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections jointly in the state. The BJP and its allies will also contest the elections unitedly in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

 

This decision definitely comes as a severe jolt to the Congress, which had been hoping to exploit the differences between the BJP and its regional allies over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to win a respectable number of seats in the region. Triggering the people by spreading false rumours on the side-effects of Citizenship Bill.

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav met top leaders of the AGP, and the chief ministers of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, in Guwahati late Tuesday evening and drew up a strategy to fight the elections unitedly. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the convener of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) were also present.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s National People's Party, Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and some other regional parties are constituents of NEDA. A seat sharing arrangement between the BJP, AGP and the Bodoland People's Front has been worked out in Assam.

NEDA convener Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the BJP and its allies would win19 to 21 of the region’s 25 Lok Sabha seats. Assam has 14 Lok Sabha seats, while Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh have two seats each and Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim have one seat each.

Tuesday’s agreement between the BJP and its regional allies to sink their differences over the Citizenship Bill and contest the polls unitedly has dramatically improved the BJP’s poll prospects in the region.