The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National People’s Party (NPP) are drifting further apart and could soon split up, state Congress Party leader Manuel Badwar has told Highland Post.
The two parties are part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). While the BJP holds sway at the national level, the NPP is the lead partner in Meghalaya. However, the relationship has not always been smooth and several NPP leaders have blamed the party’s losses in the recent Lok Sabha election on the public support of the Hindu nationalist BJP, which did not go down well in Christian-majority Meghalaya.
“We noticed that after the election, our Chief Minister’s visit to Delhi did not receive much attention from the NDA,” Badwar said. “It seems like the BJP is paving the way to form an alliance with another party by rejecting the NPP.”
The state BJP has been a frequent critic of alleged corruption and illegal coal mining in Meghalaya, with the blame pinned on the NPP, which leads the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.
Badwar also believes that publicly aired disappointment about Meghalaya’s failure to implement various projects is a sign that the BJP will withdraw support from the NPP.
Furthermore, Badwar commented on the Voice of the People Party’s (VPP) decision to abstain from the election for the post of Speaker of the Lok Sabha last week. Speculating that the VPP may be avoiding taking sides to focus on the upcoming district council election, Badwar said that the VPP will have to choose sides eventually; the party has so far decided neither to support the BJP-led government or the Congress-led opposition in Parliament.
