Itanagar: The National People’s Party (NPP) has released its first list of candidates for 29 assembly constituencies out of 60 in Arunachal Pradesh. The list was released on Wednesday. The Lok Sabha and the assembly polls in the state will be held simultaneously on April 11.
The party, led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, is contesting the elections in the state for the first time. The NPP has fielded two sitting ministers – Home Minister Kumar Waii and Tourism Minister Jarkar Gamlin – from Bameng and Aalo (East) assembly constituencies, respectively. Both of them were denied BJP tickets this time.
Other BJP MLAs who were also denied tickets — Tapuk Taku, Pani Taram, Thangwang Wangham and Paknga Bage — also figured in the NPP list. All the four MLAs will contest from the constituencies they represented during the last term. The party also field 17 newcomers.
NPP vice-president Nima Sange Saling informed that the party would declare its second list of candidates for the remaining assembly constituencies and those for the LS seats on Thursday. Meanwhile, in Dimapur, the NPP suffered a major setback when two of its legislators in Nagaland merged with the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDDP). The NPP legislators are Imnatiba and L Khumo Khiamniungan.
