New Delhi, Aug 30: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang today formally joined the BJP and said efforts would be made to bring the North East region into the "national mainstream". "We will leave no stone unturned to fulfil the dream of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of bringing North Eastern region into national mainstream," Apang, who was welcomed into party fold by Minister of State for Home Swami Chinmayanand, party vice president Pyarelal Khandelwal and general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi at party' central office here, said.
Apang said he joined the BJP as he wanted his party to be "not merely a coalition partner". With his joining the party, the total strength of BJP MLAs in the 60-member assembly comes to 42 and Arunachal Pradesh becomes first BJP-ruled state in the North East.
Welcoming Apang, Chinmayanand said various steps being taken by the Centre to bring the North East into the national mainstream, as desired by the Prime Minister, would put an end to militant activities in the region. "Arunachal Pradesh would be made centre of development in the region and a model state for the purpose," he said.
Khandelwal pooh-poohed reports that Christians were not joining BJP. Figures showed that of the 57 BJP MLAs in assemblies of the North Eastern states, 16 were Christians and all the seven party MLAs in Nagaland, where the party is a coalition partner, were Christians. Bureau Report