SHILLONG: The leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Meghalaya, Sanbor Shullai, on Thursday announced that his party will continue supporting the National People's Party. NPP is the largest party in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance which is currently in power in the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya with Conrad Sangma at its helm.
Meghalaya is going to its Assembly election in March of 2023 and the political scenario is due to change in the coming days. This is evident from the fact that BJP members wanted to withdraw from the coalition government last month. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma-led NPP is also an important constituent of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
As of now, the coalition will continue to hold true, at least till the next legislative assembly elections in the state mentioned the state minister. The future of the friendly coalition will however be decided by the BJP central command.
At the beginning of last month, M. Chuba Ao of the BJP made an announcement that they will withdraw from the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance within a month. With only two representatives, BJP is one of the smallest partners of the six-party alliance led by the NPP. The corruption charges against multiple members of the ruling party were mentioned to be the reason. Apparently, the CBI was investigating the charges and final decisions were to be made after all details are understood.
The previously friendly relationship between the two political parties started to turn sour after the arrest of Bernard N. Marak. Marak was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on July 25 for allegedly running a brothel in West Garo Hills. Party members and supporters had also organised many campaigns demanding a fair probe into the matter. They counter-alleged the authorities for fabricating a false case to malign his name and career a few months before the upcoming elections in the state.
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