Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) president, Conrad Sangma, has decisively ruled out any pre-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the upcoming elections. This move follows the NPP’s lackluster performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Addressing concerns about the party’s electoral setbacks, Sangma indicated that the NPP has conducted a thorough analysis of the factors behind its poor showing. While he did not specifically blame any party, he acknowledged that the NPP’s various political alignments may have played a role in its defeat. “Somewhere along the line, people have mentioned our alignment with different political parties as an issue,” Sangma stated. He also mentioned that anti-incumbency and other factors were considered in their review of the election results.
Looking ahead, Sangma revealed that the NPP is focused on addressing these challenges and finding a way forward. He emphasized that the party will contest elections independently, without any pre-poll alliances. “We have always maintained our stand. We would like to contest our elections on our own ideologies. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that there will be any kind of situation where there will be a tie-up,” he said. However, Sangma made it clear that while the NPP will operate independently during elections, the party remains open to forming post-poll coalitions based on the governance situation. “But we have been very clear. We work in a coalition. As and when elections are done, based on the situation of governance, we decide on what to do,” he added.
It is noteworthy that the BJP, a member of the NPP-led ruling alliance in Meghalaya, had supported NPP candidates in the Lok Sabha elections for the Shillong and Tura constituencies. The BJP did not field its own candidates in Meghalaya. In the elections, Congress won the Tura seat, while the newly formed Voice of the People Party (VPP) secured the Shillong seat.
