By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 13: NPP national president and Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday clarified that the proposed regional front in the Northeast will not impact the party’s alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.
“We will always have an alliance with the NDA and we are very clear about it. Even now I have a BJP minister; TIPRA Motha is part of the BJP-led Tripura government, so we are very clear about that part,” Sangma told reporters.
Explaining the purpose of the new grouping, Sangma said it seeks to strengthen cooperation among regional parties to better address common issues.
“What we are saying is that we are coming together to ensure that we have a stronger platform to take up issues. This is not a fight against any individual but it is only the realisation that we must all come together to bring unity so that we are stronger as a front and as leaders of the Northeast, enabling us to talk to other leaders with much more gravity and strength in the days to come,” he said.
Responding to concerns that not all regional parties—particularly from Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh—have been consulted, Sangma said the initiative is an ongoing process.
“It is a process. It is not that we have decided that everybody will just join at a click of a button and all are going to merge, it is not like that. This has never happened before. We are starting a process where a few of us have decided to come together, and consultation is taking place among the parties. They will decide how to move forward, and in the process, they will start consulting others to find out who would be interested and who would want to come forward,” he explained.
Highlighting the significance of unity among northeastern states, Sangma added, “We have realised the importance of having some kind of unity among the Northeast so that we are in a much more politically stronger position to take up issues that matter to us as a region. We have faced many situations in the past, and we would like to see the same concern and voice reflected. Thus, we intend to put the team together and become stronger.”
