Describing the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) as a “loose association”, Meghalaya Assembly speaker and United Democratic Party (UDP) chief Donkupar Roy, on Wednesday said that NEDA has nothing to do with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the region.
“NEDA is a loose association which is not even a written association or has a written agreement. We (UDP) are fighting the elections on our own and have nothing to do with them (NEDA),” he told journalists.
The UDP, which snapped ties with the NEDA over the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, has nominated Jemino Mawthoh as the candidate from Shillong Lok Sabha seat.
NEDA, formed by the BJP in 2016, is a platform of non-Congress parties from the North-East.
Political parties, barring the BJP in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance coalition government, are supporting Mawthoh’s candidature.
Asked if the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will be UDP’s election agenda, Roy said, “The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is not our issue. It is an issue of the MPs (Members of Parliament). It will not be an agenda since there are different agendas.”
On the BJP’s decision to fight the Lok Sabha polls in the state, the UDP leader said, “BJP contesting separately will not affect us (UDP). In fact, the BJP going alone will prove wrong the allegation of the Congress that UDP and the National People’s Party (NPP) are having a nexus. Moreover, it will prove that we don’t have any connection with the BJP.”
Claiming that the Congress party will be further decimated in the northeastern states after the results of the Lok Sabha elections, Roy said, “The Congress position in the northeastern states will go down in the region since they have lost power in all the northeastern states.