NPP willing to support BJP in Manipur if invited, says Conrad Sangma

At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Manipur has decided to dump its ally, the National People's Party (NPP) after winning the Manipur Assembly elections, NPP has expressed its willingness to extend its support to the BJP in the state. 

In this regard as NPP has declared support for BJP in Manipur, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma who is also the national president of NPP has said that the party will happily support BJP in Manipur. Speaking on the recently announced Assembly election results, stating that "elections and government formation are two different things", he said, "NPP if invited by BJP is open to support BJP in Manipur."

This came shortly after NPP's national vice president Prestone Tynsong on Sunday while speaking to the media, stated that the party president will take the issue of the party’s inclusion in Manipur’s ruling coalition with the BJP’s central leadership. This clearly indicates NPP's keenness to continue its alliance with BJP in the northeastern state despite the latter shutting the door on it. 

BJP to end alliance with NPP in Manipur

The recent development between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National People's Party (NPP) came shortly after Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh after securing a majority of 32 seats of the 60 Assembly seats told the media that the party won't continue with NPP anymore. "We are not going to make any coalition with the NPP", he said. 

Notably, NPP's relations with the BJP in Manipur continue to remain on the rocks for the past two years. While the NPP is the partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the North East Democratic Alliance as well as the NDA, the BJP in Meghalaya is a constituent of the NPP-led ruling coalition. 

Meanwhile, speaking about the Manipur Assembly election results, BJP had registered a big win by securing 32 seats while the National People's Party came second with a total of seven seats. Concerning this, BJP's N Biren Singh won the Heingang seat in Imphal East while Congress leader and former CM Okram Ibobi Singh won from the Thoubal constituency.

Image: PTI