GUWAHATI: Assam minister and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor, Himanta Biswa Sarma has claimed success in the “political experiment” of making Northeast “Congress-free” and bringing all the eight states of the region under NEDA.
With the Mizo National Front, a constituent of NEDA, winning the Assembly elections in Mizoram, which was the lone state under Congress prior to the polls, all the eight states are now under the “non-Congress” alliance.
“This is the first time after the country’s Independence that all eight states of the Northeast are under NEDA. Therefore, the political experiment has been a success and this comes after two and half years of mutual cooperation and support among BJP and the NEDA constituents,” Sarma said on Thursday.
Asked about the panchayat polls, he said BJP’s “good show” was on expected lines but the party has to work harder for making itself count in next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
“The performance of the party in the panchayat elections was expected. This is certainly good news for BJP before the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. However, if we have to win 10 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, we have to work even harder in the next three months,” Sarma said.
On the alliance with AGP, the minister said that the regional party must introspect and decide if they want to stay like an ally.
“But they cannot remain with us and at the same time act like an enemy. If AGP wants to fight against the enemies of Assam, then we do not have a problem. But given the current state of affairs, it seems they are trying to be with the enemies,” Sarma said.
