BJP NORTHEAST ALLY TO CONTEST MIZORAM POLLS

The National People’s Party (NPP) would contest the Mizoram assembly elections due later this year, party national spokesman James Sangma said on Saturday.

The NPP is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre and is a constituent of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).

In Meghalaya, the NPP is the major partner of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) alliance while in Nagaland and Manipur it is also part of the ruling alliance.

Sangma said party chief Conrad Sangma would formally launch the NPP in Mizoram on September 29. Sangma, who is also Meghalaya home minister and elder brother of Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma, however, said that the number of candidates to be fielded by the NPP in the upcoming state elections was yet to be decided.

The NPP, though a national party, has a regional outlook and is a tribal-centric party, he said, adding that its main objective is for united north east states and to raise stronger voice at the Centre and in Parliament.

Earlier in the month, three minor parties in Mizoram, Peoples’ Representation for Identity and Status of Mizoram (PRISM), Mizoram Chhantu Pawl (MCP) or Save Mizoram Front and Operation Mizoram forged a pre-poll alliance. HTC

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