Arunachal Pradesh's BJP unit breaks ties with PPA, will treat party as opponent

Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh BJP unit has severed relations with its North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) partner, the Peoples’ Party of Arunachal (PPA). The announcement to this effect was made by state BJP president Tapir Gao during the state executive meeting of the party here on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_3705019” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] NEDA convener Himanta Biswa Sarma passed on the decision of the BJP central leaders to break alliance with PPA to Gao, who made the announcement on Thursday, as per a party release on Friday. “The BJP will treat PPA at par with the Congress as an opponent political party,” the release added. The BJP has 47 MLAs in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly with effective strength of 59 with two independents supporting the party. The PPA has nine MLAs and the Congress has one legislator. The NEDA was formed on 24 May, 2016 by BJP along with regional political parties like Naga People’s Front, Sikkim Democratic Front, People’s Party of Arunachal, Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front in Northeast India. The NEDA was formed to protect the interest of the people of the region and also for uniting non-Congress parties in the North-east.