Shillong, March 13: United Democratic Party president, Donkupar Roy said that the allegation of the Congress that the UDP and NPP are having nexus with the BJP has proven wrong with the BJP going alone in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in the state.

“The BJP contesting separately will not affect us (UDP). In fact, the BJP going alone will prove wrong the allegation of Congress that the UDP and NPP are having nexus (with the BJP). Moreover, it will also prove that we did not have any connection with the BJP,” Roy said.

The BJP will contest the Lok Sabha polls from both Shillong and Tura seats, though it is part of the six-party Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government.

The MDA which comprised of the NPP, UDP, People’s Democratic Front, BJP, HSPDP, Nationalist Congress Party and three Independents, decided to support the UDP candidate, Jemino Mawthoh from Shillong parliamentary constituency, and the NPP candidate from Tura parliamentary constituency.

Whether the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will affect the UDP, Roy said, “The Bill is not our issue. It is an issue of the MP (Member of Parliament), and it will not be our agenda.”

The Congress has been attacking the regional parties especially the UDP and NPP for working together with the BJP especially on the issue of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

Roy however said that the Congress would be further decimated in the North Eastern region in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“The position of the Congress in the North Eastern states will go down since they have lost power in all the North Eastern states,” the UDP leader said.

The UDP leader also termed North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) which was formed by the BJP in 2016 a “loose association.”

Stating that NEDA has nothing to do with upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the region, Roy said, “NEDA is a loose association which is not even a written association or has a written agreement. We (UDP) are fighting the elections on our own and has nothing to do with them (BJP or NEDA).”

NEDA is led by the BJP and it is a platform of non-Congress parties from the Northeast including the UDP and NPP.

The UDP had left NEDA recently over the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.