Pitching for the tribal cause, former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma, who broke with Sharad Pawar's NCP last year to contest the Presidential elections against Congress nominee Pranab Mukherjee, launched his own National People's Party (NPP) and joined hands with BJP-led NDA.
Launching the NPP at the “national level,” here, Sangma said, it has been active for long as a recognized party from Manipur. Sangma had previously joined hands with NDA after he put together a coalition of north-east parties ahead of the 2004 election.
The former Speaker, who is the president of the party, said his daughter Agatha, MP from Tura, Meghalaya, will remain "in NCP for the time being on technical grounds," but sounded confident that “she will fight the next elections as an NPP candidate."
Agatha had to resign as Union minister on her party NCP’s directions after she campaigned for her father PA Sangma in the July, 2012 Presidential elections in defiance of the party, which is a constituent of the ruling UPA.
“Book will be the national symbol of the party because we believe that only literacy and education can empower the weaker section,” said Sangma. NPP will contest the Meghalaya assembly elections due soon and is ready with the names of 33 candidates, Sangma announced.
Sangma was backed by the BJP-led NDA during the Presidential polls, and hence it was almost expected that he would join hands with the Opposition alliance.
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