NPP, Tipra Motha, People’s Party to form united Northeast party to ‘speak in one voice’

Addressing a press conference at the Constitution Club in Delhi, Sangma read out a joint statement of the new forum and said, “We, leaders from different states of the Northeast, have come together today to make a collective and historic announcement i.e. the coming together of various voices of our region to form a united singular political entity that truly represents the aspirations of our people.”

He said the younger generation leaders of the Northeast have spoken about the issues and concerns of the people for too long, but they did so from different platforms and political spaces. He said they have realised that their strength lies in unity, and that it is time to give people from the region “one collective voice.”

“Taking inspiration from the vision and legacy of great leaders who fought selflessly for the identity and development of our land, we have resolved to carry forward their ideals by coming together under a shared vision for the future of the Northeast,” he said.

His words are reminiscient of his father and former Meghalaya Chief Minister P A Sangma, who after stepping down from the Congress in 1999, co-founded the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar and eventually moved on to found the National People’s Party (NPP) in 2013 that has emerged as the only party from the Northeast to become a national party till date.

Pradyot stresses unity

Pradyot Kishore, the royal scion-turned-politician, made it very clear from his slogan ‘thansa’, which means unity in Tripura’s indigenous Kokborok language, at the very outset of his party in 2021 that he was in favour of unity cutting across regions and communities.

His party has been embroiled in a series of allegations of clashes with its ally BJP in the last few months, the latest of which came just a week back, involving violence during a bandh called by an NGO led by one of his party legislators, eventually injuring several bureaucrats and policemen who tried to control the situation.

Pradyot Kishore Tuesday reiterated his stance on unity above everything else. He said the new platform will stand for raising the voice of the voiceless in a unified and cohesive manner – something the parties from the region sorely lack all the time.

“Today’s announcement marks the first step towards building this common platform. To take this initiative forward, we have decided to constitute a committee that will deliberate on the future course of action, including the modalities and structure of the proposed political entity. Our united effort is guided by a simple conviction that the people of the North East deserve to be heard, respected, and represented through a strong, unified, and indigenous political voice at the national level. Together, we stand committed to building a stronger, more united Northeast,” Sangma said.

Pradyot Kishore said that all initiating and participating members have signed the agreement for forming the new platform. At the same time, all the constituents have spoken about the same things regarding the rights of land, culture, language, education, and the future of the next generation of people from the region.

However, he said he feels those voices weren’t reaching those intended in many cases, and that’s what led them to form a collective cohesive platform to work for solutions.

“…. If we speak in one voice for the future of our children, their future, perhaps our solutions will happen and people will take us more seriously. That’s why we have come together,” he said.

Without naming anyone, Pradyot today said many people felt the regional unity would only be in discussions and would never manifest, but the beginning has already started.”

He also flagged incidents of purported racial discrimination against people from the Northeast in metro cities and said the new party would work to ensure a political voice for the Northeast proper outside the region in cities like Delhi, Bombay, and Hyderabad.

“To everyone who may have certain questions, our singular effort is to integrate separate voices of NE into a singular platform to articulate our problems for those who don’t understand our challenge,” Pradyot Kishore said.

He added that the region shares a long international boundary with neighbouring countries. If parties from the area can come together, they would be able to articulate their views more cohesively.

“We are all one, we have similar problems, we have similar challenges, and I think if we have to speak for our region, we have to shed our personal limitations and egos and come together for the sake of our people and communities and emerge as one singular political entity,” he said.

Pradyot Kishore, Sangma, or others didn’t provide a specific name or party constitution, except stating that all constituent parties would merge and emerge as the new party. Whatever its name, it will contest elections independently in the future, they said.

Asked about the ongoing relations with the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) in the region or alliance with the saffron party in different states of the region, Sangma said, “We are not here to fight with anybody, nor to contest with anybody. We are here to raise regional issues through a platform, an entity that the Northeast needs today. That’s what’s driving us today.”

“Sometimes we find ourselves alone in raising those issues; many of these issues cut across the border. The interest of our people and their future drives us. In this process, we shall take things forward. We are already working with the central government. As for elections, in almost all the past elections, barring one, the NPP has always contested on its own, Motha has contested on its own, and all others as well. So we are clear that if we don’t contest on our own, where is our principle? We will contest elections on our own, we are very clear about that.”

“There are two parts here – forming governments and contesting elections. When we talk of contesting elections, it’s a principle of the party. If people believe in our principles, they will give us a majority, and we shall form a government on our own. If they give us a fractured mandate, parties will have to respect that and work together.”

“We can’t put all our constitution in our statement. A joint committee will submit its report and will give details of all aspects, including principles on which this new entity will move forward. Today we are only announcing to work together,” Sangma said.

Pradyot Kishore stated that the new party will be secular and will advocate for those individuals who uphold constitutional rights, regardless of their religion or ethnicity.

“If we feel the Constitutional rights of people are being violated, we will stand up,” he said.

Speaking about major common goals that would likely be pursued by the new party, he said, “What are the issues across NE? Daniel Langthasa is fighting for the protection of the 6th schedule; we (Tipra Motha) are doing the same. There are common problems of illegal immigration happening from neighbouring countries, alienation of tribal land etc. Our people are being mistreated in Delhi and other cities, regardless of whether they are from Arunachal, Garo, Dimasa, Naga, Tripuri, or Mizo. If Chakmas or Mizos or Tiprasas speak for themselves alone, our strength is less, and our voices don’t reach the right place.”

Speaking about his ongoing Supreme Court case to conduct Village Committee elections and how the new party could impact ongoing relations with different parties, Pradyot Kishore said VC polls in Tripura ADC haven’t been held for last nine years and while elections were delayed under the current dispensation, similar delays were also seen in previous government’s tenures and claimed tribals of Tripura feel let down not by any specific alliance in power.

Effort to grab power, gain money, says CPI(M) leader

Reacting to the announcement, especially the fact that the new party intends to contest elections on its own while not walking away from alliance with the BJP, CPI(M) politburo member and Tripura Opposition leader Jitendra Chaudhury said he would wait for finer details of the new regional party to come out.

“All these people who have formed the new party are old players. People know them inside out. This will not lead to any stable regional force; it’s only an effort to somehow grab power, gain money and get public attention.”

Raising a finger at the NPP and Tipra Motha, Chaudhury said both parties contested bitterly against the BJP in Meghalaya and Tripura in the last assembly elections to the extent that the NPP and the BJP accused each other of being the most corrupt political party. Still, soon after the results were announced, they made peace and formed a government together.

In Tripura, he said, Tipra Motha had earlier accused the BJP and contested the polls, but joined the government a year later, citing an accord that was touted to solve all tribal problems within six months. However, it hasn’t been able to do so in over 20 months.

No reaction was available from the Tripura BJP.