Our Bureau
SHILLONG/TURA, Nov 18: A day after National People’s Party (NPP) withdrew its support to the BJP-led government in Manipur, party’s national president and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said he remained optimistic about potential improvements but was forced to reassess the party’s position following further escalation of tensions in the past week.
“Seeing the suffering of the people and the deteriorating situation, we have lost complete confidence in the current leadership of Shri Biren Singh Ji. (We felt) It will be difficult for the National People’s Party to continue supporting the government under his leadership,” Sangma told the media.
Asked why it took so long for the NPP to withdraw support, he said, “We were very hopeful that the situation would improve in Manipur. Different efforts were made by the central and state governments to restore normalcy, and we supported these efforts in the hope that they would yield results.”
Stressing on creating an environment conducive to meaningful solutions, Sangma said, “I have been discussing this with leaders from the Centre and the BJP, stressing the importance of trust-building measures. Unfortunately, these were not adequately implemented.”
Sangma said the withdrawal of support to the Biren Singh government will not affect the NPP’s relations with the NDA at the Centre or the MDA. “This decision is specific to the situation in Manipur and does not impact our alliance at the national or state level,” he said.
The BJP’s Meghalaya unit termed the NPP’s Manipur decision as “drama”.
“It will have no impact on BJP as a whole. NPP’s support was not taken seriously in Manipur as it was not actually considered a necessity in the first place,” BJP leader and Tura MDC Bernard N Marak claimed.
He said the NPP extended its support unconditionally to the BJP just to be part of the government and its eventual withdrawal of support was anticipated from day one. He said the NPP pretended to support the BJP for benefits and its growth.