Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, TIPRA Motha’s Pradyot Debbarma, former Bharatiya Janata Party Spokesperson Mmhonlumo Kikon and former Congress leader Daniel Langthasa on Tuesday announced that they are forming a new political entity for the North East.
Sangma’s National People’s Party and the TIPRA Motha, or the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance, are allies of the BJP. While NPP is the ruling party in Meghalaya, the TIPRA Motha is part of the coalition government in Tripura.
Kikon was the BJP’s lone national spokesperson from the North East till August, when he quit the party.
Langthasa had launched the People’s Party in September in Assam’s North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council.
Calling the move a “collective and historic” announcement, the four leaders said they have joined hands to form a “singular political entity that truly represents the aspirations of our people”.
“We have realised that our strength lies in unity, and that it is time to give our people one collective voice,” they said in a joint statement.
They constituted a committee that will discuss the next steps, including “the modalities and structure” of the proposed political entity.
The committee has been asked to reach out to other political parties and will submit its report within 45 days, The Hindu quoted Sangma as saying.
“We are not here to fight any political party, our primary focus [is] on people of North East,” the Meghalaya chief minister added.
TIPRA Motha’s Debbarma echoed the sentiment, saying that the platform intends to “speak for our people with conviction and truth” despite differences in political views, North East Today reported.
“We are not here to pick fights with anyone but to fight for our rights,” he added.
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