AFTER Mizoram Assembly Poll, BJP Flag Will Fly All Over NE, Says Amit Shah.
BJP National President Amit Shah on Sunday said the northeast will be ‘Congress-Mukt’ – free from Congress – after the Mizoram assembly elections in a few months from now. The five year tenure of the 40-Member assembly ends on December 15 this year.”In the northeast, we first won elections in Assam, then Manipur followed by Tripura, where the people have given us a thumping mandate,” he said .He was addressing the third conclave of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led political platform, North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), ” in Guwahati. The north-eastern states have made all-round progress since the NDA regime took office four years ago, Amit Shah expressed confidence that the constituents of the North East Democratic Alliance will be in power in eight states of the region soon and the area will become ‘Congress-Mukt’.The alliance is not merely a political or regional platform but is a “geo-cultural alliance” which has brought together the BJP and other anti-Congress forces of the Northeast, The Assam Tribune reports. Constituents of the NEDA are currently in power in all the north-eastern states, barring Mizoram where the Congress is the ruling party. Congress is in power in Mizoram bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh. A youth wing and a women’s wing of the NEDA are being set up. Besides, an annual NEDA sports festival is also being envisaged, he added. In Nagaland and Meghalaya, constituents of NEDA are in power with support of the BJP,” he said Mizoram will also become ‘Congress Mukt’ after the polls.”After Mizoram polls all the eight Chief Ministers of northeast will be sitting here together. NEDA was formed in 2016 after the BJP’s landslide victory in Assam. It is not merely a political platform but a geo-political one which aims to develop the northeast.”Earlier, the north-eastern states were known for corruption. Now due to the presence of NEDA governments, the states have gone beyond ‘briefcase politics’ and are achieving new milestones in terms of development. Shah said all the Congress Chief Ministers have bungalows in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and others. So where does the money come from? It is taken away from developmental funds meant for the poor. The BJP government has ensured that every paisa sanctioned by the Centre reaches the people.”Representatives of seven north-eastern states including Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, MLAs, MPs and other members of the NEDA constituents participated in the conclave. Prominent among those present were Chief Ministers Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam), Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya), and Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh), N. Biren Singh (Manipur), Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland), Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura) and others. Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling could not attend the meet. Amit Shah visited the NE amidst protest protests by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), a farmers’ body, opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016.KMSS says the citizenship is revised in violation of the tripartite Assam Accord inked by the State and Central Governments with All Assam Students’ Union. As per the accord, all those residing in Assam till March 24, 1971, will be considered citizens of the NE state. The cut-off date has been advanced till 2014 affecting the genuine residents, it alleged.(Image & inputs courtesy The Assam Tribune )