New Delhi: In the wake of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forming its first government in the northeastern region, party chief Amit Shah has announced a front of non-Congress parties for the development of the seven northeastern states.

With senior leader Himanta Biswa Sarma as its spearhead, Shah’s North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) will comprise the ruling parties of Sikkim and Nagaland — Sikkim Democratic Front and Naga People’s Front, respectively.

The alliance was formed at a meeting chaired by Shah and attended by Assam Chief Minister (CM) Sarbananda Sonowal and his Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim counterparts Kalikho Pul, T.R. Zeliang and P.K. Chamling respectively on Tuesday night.

The meeting was also attended by BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and BJP North East Zonal Organising secretary Ajay Jamwal.

“This alliance will be called North East Democratic Alliance. I congratulate Himanta Biswa on being declared as Convenor of NEDA. The main objective of NEDA will be all-round development of North East and better coordination among the states and the central government,” Shah tweeted after the meeting.

Sarma, who is expected to be finance minister in the newly formed Assam government, joined the BJP last year after quitting the Congress and added substantial firepower to the party’s campaign in this year’s assembly election.

The northeast is among the few surviving strongholds of Congress, with Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram still under its belt.

BJP’s tie-up with Naga People’s Front and other Imphal-based parties will help it counter Congress in next year’s Manipur polls.

Significantly, in his speech after Sonowal’s oath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre would extend all assistance to Assam and other northeastern states to ensure their speedy development as part of the Act East Policy.

“Assam will be the centre point to bring about effective all-round development of the entire North East and this region will emerge as a powerfully developed part of the country as a part of our Act East Policy,” Modi said.

Union Minister for Road, Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari also said separately that what the Northeast could not get in 50 years, the BJP government will deliver in five years.

He said an extensive road transport network will be laid in the region. The government has already announced over 80 road projects for the Northeast. He added that 10 per cent of the total funds for road project infrastructure will be earmarked for the Northeast.

“The uplift of the Northeast was one of the key poll promises of BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. The decision to earmark funds is taken keeping in mind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of development in the region,” Gadkari said.