Shillong Feb 20: The United Democratic Party (UDP) on Wednesday announced its decision to sever ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
The decision for pulling out of NEDA came after the move of the BJP to bring back the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill if voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to grant Indian citizenship to people belonging to minority communities – Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian – if they migrate from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to India.
The Bill could not be passed in Rajya Sabha, as it was opposed by several civil society groups and political parties, including some BJP allies.
BJP national president Amit Shah had already made it clear that the BJP would make the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 part of the party’s manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, and pass the Bill in Parliament if the party returns to power.
UDP Vice President, Allantry Franklin Dkhar said that the decision of the UDP to come out of the NEDA was taken on February 10 after 11 regional political parties from across the North Eastern States met in Guwahati on January 29 which unanimously resolved to oppose the Bill.
The UDP is supporting the National People’s Party (NPP)-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, and two BJP legislators are also part of the MDA government.
The DUP has seven MLAs in Assembly, and other Independent MLAs have also become its associate members.
Whether the UDP will continue to support the MDA government since the BJP is also part of the government, Dkhar said, “We support the NPP for the formation of the government after the results of the 2018 Assembly elections. We leave it to the NPP to decide since it is leading the coalition government.â€
The NPP is also opposing the Citizenship Amendment Bill but yet to pull out of the either the NDA government or NEDA till date.
