ITANAGAR, 1 Mar: The National People’s Party (NPP) will field 30 candidates in the upcoming assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, the party’s state unit president Thangwang Wangham said here on Friday.
He said that the primary criterion for candidate selection would be their potential for winning.
“The main criterion for issuing tickets will be the winnability factor of candidates. We will support the BJP government in the state and our chief ministerial candidate will be Pema Khandu,” 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.
Wangham outlined the party’s focus on development, youth employment, healthcare, education, and combating the drug menace. He emphasized 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 that drugs are a major cause for illiteracy, unemployment, social restlessness and growth of insurgency, “which are the socioeconomic and political burdens for the state.”
Wangham, who was a three-time MLA from Longding-Pumao constituency but lost the electoral battle in 2019, said that 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 that “efforts should be made to set up industrial units to attract central allocations.”
On 25 February, 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 NPP, along with Congress MLAs Wanglin Lowangdong, representing Borduria-Bogapani seat and Ninong Ering from Pasighat West joined the saffron party.
Responding to the recent shifts in political alliances, Wangham said that 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 the 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,” 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, on the Khonsa-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, and new opportunities for unemployed youths, among other things. (PTI)
