Itanagar, March 23 : The National People's Party (NPP), led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, on Saturday announced the first list of 29 candidates for the April 19 elections to the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly.

NPP chief Sangma had last week announced support for the BJP nominees in the two Lok Sabha seats in the state -- Union Minister Kiren Rijiju (Arunachal West) and Tapir Gao (Arunachal East). On Friday, the BJP announced its support for the NPP candidates for the two Parliamentary seats in Meghalaya -- Shillong and Tura.

According to the NPP list announced by the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) Chairman James Sangma in Itanagar, Arunachal NPP chief and former minister Thangwang Wangham will contest the Longding-Pumao seat, another former minister Japu Deru from Bomdila, while ex-MLAs Tani Loffa and Dikto Yekar have been fielded from Seppa West and Daporijo constituencies, respectively.

The NPP also nominated three sitting MLAs, including two ruling BJP legislators -- Dorjee Wangdi Karma and Gokar Basar -- who joined the NPP after being denied tickets by the BJP, and Independent MLA Karikho Kri, who would contest from Kalaktang, Basar, and Tezu Assembly seats, respectively.

Party sources said that the State Election Committee and the CEC of the NPP finalised the candidates in consultation with Chief Minister Sangma.

Expressing optimism, CEC Chairman James Sangma said the NPP would perform well in the April 19 polls, considering the party's rapid growth compared to other outfits.

In the 2019 Assembly polls, the NPP had fielded 30 candidates and won five seats in Arunachal Pradesh.

The NPP, which dominates the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government led by Chief Minister Sangma, is an ally of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, while the BJP with two MLAs is part of the MDA government.

The BJP has named candidates for all the 60 Assembly seats, the Congress has declared 34 candidates in its first list, while the other parties have announced 19 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Arunachal.

Along with the Assembly elections on April 19, the state will also vote for the two Lok Sabha seats ' Arunachal West and Arunachal East ' on the same day.

The counting of votes for the Assembly polls will be taken up on June 2, while the Lok Sabha election results will be declared on June 4.

/IANS