NPP will not be part of next Govt: Himanta
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, February 21 2022: Assam Chief Minister.

Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday mocked ally, National People's Party (NPP), saying no one in India knows it and voting for its candidates in Manipur elections would be fruitless as the party has "no value".

Sarma, who is the convener of the BJP-led anti-Congress alliance of regional parties - - North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), of which the NPP is a constituent, said that Ministers from the NPP were earlier chosen in the Manipur government because of the BJP.

"The NPP has no government at the Centre.

Why would you go to the central government through the NPP.

If you install a BJP government in Manipur, then you would be able to go directly...." he said while addressing an election rally at Moirang assembly constituency, where BJP candidate Mairembam Prithviraj Singh is locked in a triangular contest against Congress' Pukhrem Sharatchandra Singh and NPP's Thongam Shanti Singh.

Himanta also declared that NPP will not be a part of the next government in Manipur.

"NPP will not be a part of the next government in Manipur.

BJP on its own will form the new government," said the Assam CM, reiterating that the Conrad Sangma-led NPP has "no value".

He added: "The NPP MLAs became ministers in Manipur government at the mercy of the BJP.

The NPP had nothing to show on their own".

Himanta was campaigning for the BJP candidate from Moirang - M Prithviraj Singh.

Sarma, also a BJP's top strategist in the northeast region, said that after the Manipur election, his BJP would form the government on its own and there would be no place for the NPP in it.

Slamming the Congress for its policies and highlighting its nonexistence in the entire northeast region, he said that the BJP has its own governments in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura and in Manipur, it would retain power for a second term.

In his speech, Biren urged people to compare Moirang pre-2017 and post-2017.He then highlighted the various welfare schemes taken up by the BJP-led government including CMHT, adding that BJP is the only party which thinks for the people and urged for maintaining propriety.

The CM further said that if the BJP government were to be re-elected, the old-age pension would be increased from Rs 200 to Rs 1000, in addition to distribution of Rs 25,000 per year to female students.

He also assured of giving more attention to the healthcare and education sector.

"One cannot contest the elections at will.

BJP is a disciplined party", he contended.

The NPP, the dominant party of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, has been an ally of the BJP in both Meghalaya and Manipur since 2017, but in the current Assembly elections, both the parties are contesting against each other.

The NPP, which won four seats in the 2017 elections, has put up 38 candidates while the BJP fielded in all the 60 seats in the Manipur elections.

Mention may be made that Conrad Sangma, while addressing a series of election rallies in Manipur, claimed that his party would be the single largest party in the state.

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