NCP crisis: Talks fail, Sangma to align with NDA

Senior NCP leader P.A. Sangma tonight finally positioned himself to break it off with party president Sharad Pawar and join NDA.NCP general ...

Senior NCP leader P.A. Sangma tonight finally positioned himself to break it off with party president Sharad Pawar and join NDA.

NCP general secretary Tariq Anwar, who met him during the day to persuade him to change his mind, drew a blank. Sangma, refusing to budge from his stand on the foreign-origin issue, turned down the idea of going along with Congress.

‘‘I requested him not to take any decision in haste. He merely said, I will see,’’ Anwar later informed mediapersons.

On the other hand, BJP vice-president Pyarelal Khandelwal, who is in-charge of North-East, welcomed Sangma’s move to join NDA, saying: ‘‘He will be a big asset to the coalition.’’

Sangma has got down to package his parting off ways with Pawar to effectively address his North-East constituency. He invested his current moves with a pan-north-eastern profile, by roping in two chief ministers and one deputy chief minister from the region under the banner of the North-East People’s Front (NEPF) to back his decision to join NDA.

It is another matter that Arunachal Pradesh, from where Deputy Chief Minister Kameng Dolo showed up, has a BJP government. Also, Nagaland Chief Minister N. Rio and Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who came, are already members of NDA.

The executive of the 17-party NEPF, which met here tonight, passed a resolution registering its ‘‘full support’’ to NDA. Chaired by Rio, the meeting fully supported the ‘‘consistent political stand’’ taken by Sangma on NDA and ‘‘assured Sangma and his colleagues in the NCP its full and continued support and cooperation.’’

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The BJP, which is one of the constituents of NEPF, had earlier decided not to give a political shape to the outfit, originally formed to work in three areas — social, development and security. The BJP obviously wanted to promote its own platform rather than the front. The national leadership, however, advised BJP leaders from the region to let things go the way Sangma wanted for the sake of boosting his image.

Sangma said later: ‘‘Under no circumstances I can align with the Congress. I will appeal to Sharad Pawar to change his proposal (to align with Congress).’’ Asked if there was any scope for him and Pawar to stay together, he shot back: ‘‘How can it be? Pawar has his own compulsions, I have my own.’’

A reporter sought to know who had the majority support in NCP — he or Pawar. Sangma’s answered: ‘‘I don’t know how much money I have in my pocket.’’ He disclosed that Pawar told him this morning that he would meet with him and Chhattisgarh NCP leader V.C. Shukla on January 24 for ‘‘last consultations.’’