BJP,NPP to jointly rule Itanagar Municipal Corporation; JD(U) will be their opponent

The BJP and the NPP hammered a dealon Wednesday to form a joint government in the ItanagarMunicipal Corporation, where JD(U) will be their opponent.

As part of the agreement reached at a joint meetingduring the day, Tame Phassang of BJP will be the new Mayor ofthe Itanagar civic body, while Biri Basang of NPP will be hisdeputy, leaders of the two parties said.

The decision was taken at the meeting after NationalPeople's Party (NPP) supported BJP to secure a majority in the20-member Itanagar Municipal Corporation, elections to whichwere held last month, they said.

The ruling BJP had won 10 seats in the elections, NPPbagged one and opposition JD(U) got nine seats.

The new Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Itanagar MunicipalCorporation (IMC) are likely to be sworn-in on January 15,sources in the two parties said.

Tame Phassang is a BJP national council member andadvisor to Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

State BJP president Biyuram Waghe, state NPP presidentGicho Kabak and MLA Tapuk Taku and BJP Lok Sabha member TapirGao among others were present in the meeting.

During the meeting, the two parties discussed strategyunder the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) for NPP'ssupport to the BJP for better governance, NPP vice presidentNima Sangey said.

On the other side, BJP accepted NPP's proposal ofappointing Basang as the deputy mayor, he said.

Janata Dal (United), the BJP's ally in Bihar, will betheir opponent in the IMC.

Close on heels of mass defection of its MLAs to the BJPin Arunachal Pradesh, the JD(U), in its maiden contest on itsown in the Itanagar Municipal Corporation polls, had baggednine wards, only one less than the saffron party.

The Congress which ruled IMC last time had failed toopen its account in the December polls.

The crossing over of six out of the total seven MLAs ofChief Minister Nitish Kumar headed JD(U) to the BJP hadcreated heartburn among the Bihar-centric regional partyleaders.

Though the JD(U) leaders had voiced annoyance over thedevelopment, but the top leadership of the two old allies hadmade it clear that it would not have any bearing on theiralliance in Bihar, where they are partners in the government.

PTI CORR UPL SOMSNS SNS