On BJP executive agenda, how to spread wings in northeast

GUWAHATI: With Assam giving BJP its first government in the Northeast, party president Amit Shah has drawn big plans for the seven states. The party is eyeing 20 Lok Sabha seats from the region in the 2019 general elections.

The Northeast will be discussed in the party’s two-day national executive in Allahabad starting on Sunday. Shah has created the Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA), an anti-Congress platform of BJP and allies. BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the convener of NEDA, told ET, “Shah is keen on Northeast and we are working to increase our Lok Sabha tally from there.”

The seven northeastern states account for 24 LS seats, of which NDA won 11 in 2014. The BJP got seven in Assam and one in Arunachal Pradesh. Its ally, the Naga People’s Front (NPF), won one seat each in Nagaland and Manipur, and Meghalaya’s National People’s Party won the Tura seat.

The national executive will take a call if the BJP should be part of Kalikho Pul’s government in Arunachal Pradesh. Now, it is lending outside support. There is internal turmoil in the ruling Congress in Meghalaya, with a section of MLAs demanding leadership change. The BJP is watching the developments there. A party leader said, “Our strategy is to assist allies where they are strong. In Meghalaya our ally, the National People’s Party, is doing well. In Manipur, the BJP is emerging as an alternative to the ruling Congress, while in Left Frontruled Tripura we are building the party in the grassroots.”

“There will be regular interactions with allies. We will take up common issues. I will tour the states every month,” said Sarma.