The National People’s Party (NPP), which aims to be the alternative to the Congress and ally Bharatiya Janata Party in the northeast, launched its unit in Assam on Wednesday with a plan to contest in the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the State.
The launch coincided with the completion of a year of the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government in Meghalaya, where the BJP is a minor partner.
“We are ready to contest in 25 seats (across the eight north-eastern States). Being with the National Democratic Alliance does not stop us from contesting the election,” NPP president and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said after inaugurating the party office in Guwahati.
Assam is the sixth north-eastern State where the NPP has made an entry. The party has 20 MLAs in Meghalaya, five in Arunachal Pradesh, four in Manipur, and two in Nagaland. It is a minor ruling partner of the BJP in Manipur and Nagaland.
The NPP’s entry in Assam follows the decision of the BJP’s ally Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha poll in Tripura. In Assam, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) had walked out of the BJP-led alliance government in January following differences on the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which the saffron party tried to bring in.
But the NPP stole the thunder from the AGP by mobilising support against the Bill with Mr. Sangma cashing in on popular sentiments to emerge as the “tallest leader” of the northeast.
“What the region needs is a party that can bring all the people together on a common platform and make their voices strong enough for Delhi not to ignore. The NPP was formed with this goal, and in the last four years, we have spread to all corners of the region,” Mr. Sangma said.
The NPP chief took a dig at the BJP’s Act East Policy and its earlier avatar as Look East Policy during the Congress rule. “Whether it is Look or Act, we will have to help ourselves. No one else will Look or Act for us,” he said.
The Assam unit of the NPP is headed by retired IPS officer Dilip Kumar Bora.
Earlier in Meghalaya capital Shillong, Mr. Sangma said completion of a year in office was not meant for celebration but introspection to “look back at what we have done and, more importantly, what we have not been able to.”
He admitted that the December 13 coal mine tragedy (at Ksan in East Jaintia Hills district) has been a blot during the one-year rule of his alliance government.
“It is an issue that we are concerned about. We have set up panels in all the mining districts. Each of this, headed by the Deputy Commissioner concerned, has been asked to ensure regular checks against illegal mining, take action and submit reports,” he said.
