North East Democratic Alliance meets for Cong-free region

GUWAHATI: BJP’s grouping of non-Congress parties, North East Democratic Alliance ( NEDA), which was formed last month, held its first meeting in Guwahati on Wednesday where it decided to form working groups to tackle major issues confronting the region.

The meeting on Wednesday — its first — was attended by BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh Kalikho Pul, Nagaland CM TR Zeliang and former

Mizoram CM Zoramthanga, besides representatives from some key parties in the North-East. The next meeting — on July 13 — will be attended by BJP party president Amit Shah and all the elected members of the party and its partners from across the region.

The grouping is trying to scuttle the influence of Congress in the region. "It was a formal meeting of associates of NEDA. We have decided to hold frequent meetings in different state capitals of North-East," said Meghalaya-based UDP leader Paul Lyngdoh, adding, "We will have working groups on different sectors, which will take up common issues of the region."

BJP is targeting 20 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 parliamentary polls. The seven states of the North-East have 24 seats, and NDA had won 11 in the last elections in 2014.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Congress had won 8 seats in the North-East, while in 2009, it had won 13. At present, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram are ruled by Congress, while the Left Front is ruling Tripura. In Arunachal Pradesh, a BJP-backed collation is ruling, while in Nagaland, BJP is a partner in the ruling coalition.