‘Time To Speak As One’: Northeast Leaders Unite To Form New Political Entity For Stronger Regional Voice

New Delhi: In a landmark move for the politics of the Northeast, over five prominent regional leaders, including Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Bikram Manikya Debbarma, on Tuesday formally joined hands to announce a new political entity aimed at giving the region a unified and powerful voice on the national stage.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Conrad Sangma opened the event by welcoming fellow leaders and calling the coming together a “collective and historic moment” for the region.

“We have come together to make a collective and historic announcement. It is time to give our people one collective voice,” Sangma said, adding, “We are merging all our political parties.”

He said, “Our united effort is built on a simple conviction that the people of the Northeast deserve to be represented through a strong voice at the national level. Together, we stand committed to building a united and stronger Northeast.”

Announcing the formation of a nine-member political committee, Sangma said it will work out the modalities for the new party in the coming days.

“Today, we are only announcing that we are coming together. Further details will follow. There have been previous attempts to unify the Northeast politically, but they did not succeed. This time, we have taken the decision to form a collective political party through our committee,” he said.

Sangma clarified that the new front will work in coordination with the central government and is not an adversarial move, but an effort to create a common platform to represent shared issues.

“We are not here to fight. We are here to give a common platform to address our issues and shared interests,” he said, adding that the group intends to contest upcoming elections jointly.

Pradyot Debbarma emphasised the spirit of unity that underpins the new formation.

“For long, we have spoken as separate political entities. But from now, we will speak as a united entity,” Pradyot said. “We have similar problems and shared interests. It’s time to put aside our personal egos and provide collective leadership. Our effort is to unify our diverse voices into one,” he said.

The leaders said their core agenda will revolve around land rights, tackling infiltration from neighbouring countries, protection of the Sixth Schedule and fighting racial discrimination faced by people from the Northeast.

“In all past elections, whether it was NPP or Tipra Motha, we fought separately. Now, we will fight together — for our land, our identity and our future,” Sangma said.

Former BJP national spokesperson Mmhonlumo Kikon and Daniel Langthasa, founder of the People’s Party, Assam, and other leaders were also present at the press conference.

The announcement marks the beginning of what could become a powerful regional bloc, which seeks to redefine the Northeast’s political engagement with the rest of India and ensure that the voices of its people are no longer “overlooked by national parties”.

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