Guwahati, July 12: The North East Democratic Alliance (Neda), a platform of the BJP and nine regional parties, will release a Guwahati declaration at its first political conclave here tomorrow in the presence of BJP national president Amit Shah.

The declaration will lay down the road map for future course of action of the newly floated anti-Congress bloc.

"This will be the first political conclave of Neda since its formation in May this year. The conclave will come out with a Guwahati declaration, focusing on three issues ranging from local to national to international importance," Neda convener Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

He said the meeting would discuss three basic objectives of Neda - Congress- mukt (free) Northeast, role of the Northeast in development of the country and to provide a boost to the Centre's Act East policy.

"The conclave has three important objectives. One will be expansion of the base of the BJP and its NE allies for a Congress-free region at the local or regional level. At the national level, Neda will work to put in sync the Northeast's growth with the national growth. It will discuss how MPs from the Northeast can work together towards that end and strengthen the region as it has an important role to play in the development of the country. At the international level, Neda will focus on the Northeast's role in the Act East Policy, taking forward the region's strategic advantage," Sarma said.

The event will be held at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra auditorium at Panjabari here and will be attended by top functionaries of the BJP and its regional allies.

Apart from Shah, the chief ministers of four northeastern states - Sarbananda Sonowal of Assam, T.R. Zeliang of Nagaland, Kalikho Pul of Arunachal Pradesh and Pawan Chamling of Sikkim - and the BJP's national general secretaries, Ramlal and Ram Madhav, will be present.

Former chief ministers Zoramthanga (president of Mizo National Front) and Donkupar Roy (president of United Democratic Party of Meghalaya), National People's Party president Conrad Sangma, AGP president Atul Bora, Bodoland People's Party chief Hagrama Mohilary and Ganashakti president Ronuj Pegu will attend the conclave.

The gathering will also focus on evolving an effective strategy to ensure Neda's victory in the upcoming Assembly polls in Manipur (2017) and Meghalaya (2018).

Neda was formed hours after Sonowal took oath as chief minister of Assam in May this year with an aim to oust the Congress from power in all the northeastern states. The BJP hopes Assam will be its gateway in the Northeast where the Congress still runs three governments (Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram) and the Left Front a fourth (Tripura). The region sends 25 MPs to Lok Sabha. The BJP has eight - it had won seven of Assam's 14 seats in 2014 and one in Arunachal Pradesh - and hopes to ramp up that number substantially in the next elections.

"If all the 25 NE MPs can come on a single platform, they can effectively raise the issues concerning the region in order to achieve all-round development of the Northeast," Sarma said, adding that having better co-ordination among the states and the Centre is another agenda of the alliance.

He also said Shah, who arrived here this evening, will also attend a two-day training camp organised for BJP MLAs of the Northeast at a resort at Sonapur on the city's outskirts tomorrow.