IMPHAL, March 2: Eleven political parties including the NPF have decided to form a political alliance and said the alliance would work for safeguarding Manipur’s territorial integrity.
The decision to form the alliance was taken by the eleven parties during a two day long closed door meeting which concluded today at the official residence of V Hangkhanlian, president and MLA of National Peoples Party located at Lamphelpat.
The parties are BJP, MPP, CPI, CPI (M), Janata Dal (U), MSCP, Trinamool Congress, NCP, NPP, LJP and the NPF.
Intimating reporters at the said location, Dr M Nara, state secretary of CPI state council said that MPP president Nimai Chandt Luwang and MSCP working president Ksh Debabrata Singh were appointed as co conveners while he himself has been appointed as the spokesperson of the alliance.
The alliance is yet to get a name and its convener yet to be elected. It is also yet to name their leader.
“After minute deliberations, eleven political parties resolved to form a broad based alliance as per aspirations of the people. People want a change and a new political scenario in Manipur and also to serve the state and also to solve all the problems faced by the state”, M Nara Singh said.
He further stated that the name of the alliance would be announced and a common minimum program would be finalized in the next couple of days.
Reacting to the charges leveled by MPCC president Gaikhangam that NPF was a party out to disintegrate Manipur’s territory and that the integrity of the political parties joining hands with a political party having a communal agenda was questionable, Nimai Chand Luwang said, “We don’t have any reaction.”Gaikhangam yesterday blasted all the parties joining hands with the NPF, saying the integrity of the parties was doubtful.
Luwang further said with NPF, all the 11 parties had different purpose. “ We will work for safeguarding territorial integrity of Manipur,” Luwang said.
The bringing of NPF into the alliance fold is a marked change from the earlier stance taken by the major opposition parties like MPP and NCP. These two parties are on record saying that they had never discussed about joining hands with the NPF.
Though, leaders of the parties attended today’s meeting, no representative of the NPF turned up at the meeting. However, an NPF delegation took part in yesterday’s meeting. Luwang clarified that NPF leaders could not participate in today’s meeting as they were busy in preparations for the re-poll which falls on Sunday. He further said NPF informed the meeting that they had agreed to join the alliance.
CPI which withdrew from SPF coalition on Wednesday after sharing power with the Congress for two consecutive terms is one of the parties which played a major role in bringing the non-Congress parties together to prevent Congress from returning to power.
After coming together of the 11 parties against the Congress, only a few non-Congress parties like Shiv Sena, Manipur Democratic People’s Front (MDPF), SDPI, JMBP etc are left in the neutral zone.