BJP-RSS are behind ‘One North East’ idea, says Meghalaya Congress chief

GUWAHATI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are behind a regional front aimed at uniting the indigenous communities of the northeast, Meghalaya Congress president and former Union Minister Vincent H. Pala said.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and Tipra Motha Party founder Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma led the launch of ‘One North East’, a regional front, in New Delhi in November. The objective of the front was to highlight the issues of the region’s indigenous communities.

“The BJP knows that the indigenous communities of the northeast do not like it. This front was designed as a basket for people who are anti-BJP, so that they do not go turn to Congress,” Mr. Pala told journalists in Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong, on Monday (December 1, 2025).

He had learned about the plan from the leaders of the BJP and the RSS, Mr. Pala claimed. “The new front is already talking about supporting the BJP. They will work with the BJP after the election,” he said, pointing out that the founders of ‘One North East’ were former leaders and friends of the BJP.

Two other leaders behind the front are former BJP national spokesperson and former Nagaland Minister Mmhonlumo Kikon, and Daniel Langthasa, the founder of the People’s Party of Assam.

The ‘One North East’ initiative aims to merge existing regional parties across the northeast into a single unit to contest elections, and assert the rights and demands of the people from the region.