Saffron surge dents NCP’s fortunes in the Northeast

DOWNFALL The party’s graph went down after its founder PA Sangma quit in 2012

Guwahati: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s bid to make the eight north-eastern states Congress free has virtually killed the Trinamool Congress in Tripura, while also threatening the existence of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the region.

The TMC and NCP, formed within 18 months of each other almost two decades ago, began their electoral innings in the Northeast almost at the same time. The NCP held the edge primarily because of former Lok Sabha speaker Purno Agitok Sangma, who founded the party along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar.

The party’s graph went southward after Sangma quit in 2012 to contest the presidential polls against Pranab Mukherjee and acquired the National People’s Party (NPP), formerly a Manipur-based regional party that bagged three seats in its first assembly election in 2007.

Sangma’s departure showed on the party’s performance across the region. It did win four assembly seats in Nagaland and two in Meghalaya in 2013. The four soon switched over to the BJP and Naga People’s Front, while one of the two in Meghalaya – Marthon Sangma – joined the Congress.

The only MLA standing for NCP in the Northeast is Sanbor Shullai, also the party’s president in Meghalaya. With the assembly elections approaching, there are reports that the NCP in Meghalaya may merge with BJP. “This is in the domain of speculations. We will let you know after our party meeting on August 22,” Shullai told HT from Meghalaya capital Shillong.

Nalin Kohli, in-charge of BJP in Meghalaya, declined to comment. But party leaders in the state said Shullai had met them and that fewer NCP leaders were keen on joining BJP.

The churning within the NCP in Meghalaya follows the merger of the party’s Arunachal Pradesh unit with NPP earlier this month. “None of the NCP leaders showed any interest in the affairs of the party unit in Arunachal or of the state. So, we lost confidence in them and decided to join NPP, which has a better vision for the region,” Gicho Kabak, who was the NCP’s state president, said.

The NPP, a constituent of the NDA, has four ministers in Manipur’s BJP-led coalition government. One of them is deputy CM Yumnam Joykumar Singh.