Five North-East MPs pledge support to BJP
Five members of the Lok Sabha from the North-East have decided to extend ''unconditional'' support to a government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre as and when it is formed.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang told the press in New Delhi that he had been authorised by the North-East Regional Political Parties Forum to make the announcement by NERPF chairman and his Assam counterpart Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.
Apang said he had held discussions with BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee last night regarding the formation of a BJP-led government.
''It was unfortunate that the Congress brought down the United Front on flimsy grounds. The nation was forced to go through another general election causing much financial burden on it,'' he said.
The second-longest serving chief minister in the country lashed out at the Congress for trying to form a government at the Centre, saying it had no moral or constitutional rights to do so. It was, he said, again being "irresponsible'' by opposing the formation of a stable government at the Centre.
He expressed the hope that a coalition government headed by the BJP would redress the longstanding grievances of the people of the North-Eastern states. While the Congress had failed in solving the problems of the region, the outgoing United Front government had had little time to prove its effectiveness and honour promises made to the North-Eastern states, he said.
Apang said three more newly elected members of the Lok Sabha from the region were expected to extend support to the BJP-led government.
The MPs who have pledged support to the BJP are Omok Apang -- the chief minister's son -- and Raj Kumar Wancha (Arunachal Pradesh) Th Chouba (Manipur) H Lallungmuana (Mizoram) and B S Dahal (Sikkim).
UNI
Elections '98
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