The National People's Party (NPP) will field 30 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, party’s State unit president Thangwang Wangham said in Itanagar, on March 1. He said the primary criteria for candidate selection would be their potential for winning.
"The main criteria for issuing tickets will be winnability factor of candidates. We will support the BJP government in the State and our Chief Ministerial candidate will be Pema Khandu," Mr. Wangham told PTI in an exclusive interview.
The NPP, led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, is an ally of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and extends support to the Khandu government.
Mr. Wangham outlined the party's focus on development, youth employment, healthcare, education, and combating the drug menace. He emphasised the goal of creating a drug-free society by raising awareness among addicts about the consequences of narcotics.
"We will work for a drug-free society and will reach the addicts to make them aware of the ill effects of narcotics. Addicts should be given a second chance to lead a normal life," he said adding, drugs are a major cause for illiteracy, unemployment, social restlessness and growth of insurgency, which are the socio-economic and political burdens for the State.
Mr. Wangham, who was a three-time MLA from Longding-Pumao constituency but lost the electoral battle in 2019, said his party would work to make society free from drug abuse. He added that the party would also work on productivity and industrial development which is lacking in the State.
"Any State or society without productivity is a dumping ground for consumers. There are no Central allocations to the industry sector in the State we are entirely dependent on Central funds," he said adding, efforts should be made to set up industrial units to attract Central allocations.
On February 25, two NPP legislators out of four in the 60-member Assembly, along with two Congress MLAs, joined the BJP.
Mutchu Mithi from Roing constituency and Gokar Basar from Basar constituency, both from the NPP along with the Congress MLAs Wanglin Lowangdong representing Borduria-Bogapani seat and Ninong Ering from Pasighat West joined the saffron party.
Responding to recent shifts in political alliances, where two NPP legislators joined the BJP, Mr. Wangham said such changes might be due to political dynamics in their constituencies and voter preferences. He asserted that the NPP's alliance with the BJP through NEDA remains intact and unaffected by these developments.
"Their joining BJP will have no impact as NPP has extended support to the BJP government in the state being an ally of the NEDA," Mr. Wangham added. The ruling BJP in the State has 53 MLAs followed by Congress and NPP with two each. There are also three independent members. In the 2019 elections, the NPP had fielded 30 candidates, with five emerging victorious.
However, one of its candidates, Tirong Aboh, was killed by suspected militants before the results were declared.
Forty-five-year-old Aboh was travelling from Assam’s Dibrugarh to his constituency, when he along with ten others including his son, was killed at 12th Mile, 20km between Khonsa and Deomali road, by armed militants.
Meanwhile, the party has released its election manifesto with major emphasis on people-centric political and administrative reforms, excellence in education system, better health policy, a robust agriculture and allied sector, new opportunities for unemployed youth among others.
