6 Assam parties will join BJP platform

At least six regional political parties, including the Mizo National Front and Asom Gana Parishad, have decided to join the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a platform floated by the BJP after its victory in the Assam Assembly polls.

On Thursday, at the first meeting of the front, called by NEDA convenor and senior BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, the forum decided to hold its first convention of alliance partners on July 13 in Guwa-hati. Mr Sarma told reporters that Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh chief ministers, along with BJP general secretary Ram Madhab, were present at the meeting, and that his mission is to broaden NEDA’s sphere by roping in more like-minded parties. Bodoland People’s Front leaders, also present at the meeting, were of the view that the BJP’s victory in Assam would help spread NEDA to other states in the region.

Indicating that the focus of NEDA would be to make their presence felt in Manipur in the upcoming Assembly polls, BJP sources said a meeting of the party’s state executive committee was also held in which the party stressed the need to provide a corruption-free and transparent government.

The BJP state executive, in the meeting chaired by Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, also adopted a resolution assuring the people of the state that the party would provide “good governance”.