IMPHAL, Aug 3 (NNN): The future of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the whole North East region is bleak, according to NCP leader and former chief minister of Manipur Radhabinod Koijam.
Admitting his party`s poor form at the moment in the North East owing to the party`s co-founder P.A Sangma`s decision to float a tribal centric political party soon, Radhabinod Koijam told Newmai News Network tonight that the situation for the NCP is fluid in all the states in the region due to the present development.
The former Manipur chief minister confessed that there is a problem for the party in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh but he did not elucidate the nature of the problem. Radhabinod Koijam then said all the 15 NCP MLAs in the Meghalaya legislative assembly will definitely support P.A Sangma as the latter has a huge following in that state.
When queried by NNN about his decision, Radhabinod said since the proposed P.A Sangma`s new party is going to be a tribal based he cannot accept such party. He said he can join only in a political party that has no group or ethnic affiliation.
Radhabinod is still undecided whether to remain in the NCP fold or switch side but he said series of meetings and consultations are underway at the moment.
It can be noted that former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A Sangma after having had lost the Presidential election to Pranab Mukherjee, had announced to float a tribal centric political party christened as National Indigenous Party of India.
In this new development the NCP members in Meghalaya are reportedly upbeat. The NCP members in Meghalaya, the home state of P.A Sangma said they would follow whetever decision the former Lok Sabha Speaker under-takes.
Even prior to the Presidential poll, the state of affairs in the NCP set up was already bad.
In the 2011 assembly poll of Assam the party did not fare well and so in the 2012 Manipur assembly election.