Amit Shah bats for development of North East at NEDA conclave

FP Staff • September 5, 2017, 16:36:18 IST

BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday inaugurated the second conclave of the party-led North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) in New Delhi with a focus on the coming elections in three north-east states — Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram. BJP rules three of northeast’s eight states, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh; its allies in the NEDA another two, Nagaland and Sikkim. PTI

NEDA is a conglomerate of eight political parties formed in 2016 by the Bharatiya Janata Party along with regional outfits like Sikkim Democratic Front, Asom Gana Parishad, Bodoland People’s Front, Naga People’s Front, Asom Gana Shakti, National People’s Party, and United Democratic Party. PTI

Addressing the inaugural session of NEDA, Amit Shah said the region was top priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the development of the eight states was a must for overall growth of the country, he said. PTI

Citing numerous initiatives of the BJP government for the region, Amit Shah said a Union minister visited one of the eight states in the region every 15 days. He termed the land boundary agreement with Bangladesh a milestone in the history of the north-east and said the government was committed to the overall development of the area. PTI

The meeting was attended by the chief ministers of Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. The BJP president expressed the confidence that all eight chief ministers would be from the alliance in the next NEDA meeting. PTI

Emphasising the importance of NEDA, the BJP leader said, “It is not only a political platform but a platform to culturally unite all eight north-eastern states and increase their involvement in national affairs.” PTI