GUWAHATI: Ousted from power by BJP, a bitter People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) said the political instability in Arunachal Pradesh would have a bearing on the saffron party’s poll prospects in Manipur.
The leaders of PPA, which lost 33 of its Arunachal MLAs including chief minister Pema Khandu to BJP on December 31, said the events in the frontier state were a setback for regional parties that make up the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
The NEDA is a BJP-led platform comprising non-Congress regional parties and was formed in July last year after the saffron party won the Assam election. While no party from Manipur is part of the alliance, Naga People’s Front (NPF) is. The NPF, which is the ruling party in neighbouring Nagaland, expects to do well in the Naga-dominated areas of Manipur. The PPA, on the other hand, is yet to take a decision on whether it would remain in close contact with BJP as part of the alliance.
“Whatever happened in Arunachal Pradesh is not good for NEDA. The regional parties and BJP must work together. If there is mistrust, NEDA’s purpose will not be served,” PPA chairman Kamen Ringu said.
“If BJP retains this tendency (of capturing power through the back door), other regional parties in other states will also be worried,” said PPA chief Kahfa Bengia.
The BJP, however, ruled out any adverse impact of the developments in Arunachal on NEDA or the Manipur election. “In fact, we will do well in Manipur. There will be no negative impact on NEDA’s prospects. It is PPA which treated BJP badly by temporarily suspending Chief Minister Pema Khandu, deputy chief minister Chowna Mein and other MLAs,” Arunachal state BJP president Tapir Gao said.
Sources said the NEDA would discuss the Arunachal crisis in a meeting on Monday.
