SHILLONG: With every political party desiring to contest and field candidates for the 2018 Assembly polls, the pre-poll alliance by like-minded parties to take on the Congress in Meghalaya is a complicated and tedious exercise. This was admitted by NPP president and Tura MP Conrad Sangma.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Friday, Sangma said while the party is very clear and open to working with like-minded parties, the matter appears to be very complicated and a tedious exercise.
“A lot of discussions and dialogues will have to be initiated in this aspect,” Sangma said.
The NPP leader, however, said there is a need on the part of the political parties to work together to achieve the common goal.
“It is not easy to make sacrifices in the context of pre-poll alliance and it is not a single exercise. We, the like-minded political parties, want to be together ahead of the polls, but there are challenges which are natural,” Sangma said.
Asked about the significance of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the non-Congress platform, Sangma said NEDA was a coalition of like-minded parties and to address the common issues concerning the northeastern states, the concerned parties came together under the banner and it was a natural process.
On whether the Assam-like political situation where non-Congress political parties came together to secure power, will be repeated in Meghalaya in the 2018 Assembly polls, Sangma admitted that a lot of exercise will be required to achieve the possibility. “We are discussing on the pre-poll understating and the discussion will continue,” he said
As far as NPP is concerned, Sangma said the immediate priority is to strengthen the party and raise the issues concerning the people.
To a question as to whether NPP will project any Chief Minister candidate for the 2018 polls, Sangma said the matter has not been discussed. “We will see the situation and mood before taking the decision,” he added.
Earlier, UDP president Donkupar Roy had said the discussion on pre-poll alliance was on the right track.
While HSPDP in the past distanced itself from the pre-poll idea, state BJP is yet to come clear on the matter.
