SHILLONG, APR 2: National People’s Party (NPP) spokesperson Himalaya M Shangpliang on Tuesday said the NPP and the BJP are not the same. According to him, it was because of the NPP leadership that the state of Meghalaya was exempted from the purview of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Countering the allegations by opposition political parties, Shangpliang said there is nothing new to say that the BJP and NPP are in alliance in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

“Now, when the NDA was formed, the NPP was already in alliance with the BJP in the Centre and you could also witness the same in the state with MDA-1, we had the BJP and the NPP and other parties like the UDP which had formed the government. Similarly, again in MDA 2, the BJP is part of the alliance in the government,” he said.

Speaking to reporters, Shangpliang said that the NPP has a lot of respect for the decision of the BJP to support the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

“Therefore, when the BJP did not set up a candidate for the MP elections, I must say that we have a lot of respect for the decision taken by the BJP at the Centre, for the decision taken by the party high command of the BJP to respect the alliance that we have so as to enable the NDA candidate which is Ampareen Lyngdoh to have an easy victory, but having said that there has been instances where the NPP has also raised issues relating to CAA, ILP and therefore it is not to say that the BJP and the NPP are the same,” he said.

Stating that the NPP stands for the people of the state, the NPP spokesperson said, “There are local issues which the NPP stands for. We are fighting for recognition of the Khasi and Garo languages under the Eighth Schedule and shall continue to do so.”

“We are also pursuing the resolution by the Assembly on ILP and therefore, because of the wisdom of the leadership in the NPP, the CAA has been exempted in the state so therefore, the alliance that we have with the BJP is that we respect each other and therefore, we look forward to this alliance to move forward in the days to come and bring further development for the betterment of the state,” he added.

Asked, Shangpliang said, “Well, I think it is not like that this matter of the CAA was discussed at length and breadth inside and outside the party and also in the floor and outside the floor of the House and it was a consolidated opinion of the people of the state for which the government has voiced it to the central government and accordingly the central government has listened and therefore, the exemption has come in the state.”

Also Read: All candidates are strong, NPP working hard to win in both LS seats: Tynsong

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