Newmai News Network
SHILLONG/DIMAPUR, May 14
TWO former Congress party stalwarts from the North East region have started chalking out strategies to change the political equation in the region in the event of the NDA coming to power at the Centre.
PA Sangma and Neiphiu Rio are now comrades in common issues of the region waiting to strike as both of them are elated by the exit poll results.
The exit polls predicted PA Sangma winning the Tura Lok Sabha seat of Meghalaya. Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio too is expected to win by a huge margin.
Both Rio and Sangma had met BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi recently. Rio is leading the Naga People’s Front (NPF) while Sangma is the chief of National People’s Party (NPP). Both the parties are the units of North East Regional Parties Front (NERPF) which endorses the NDA at the Centre.
Under the banner of NERPF, Rio and Sangma have assured earlier to rake up issues confronting the North East region in the event of the NDA coming to power at the Centre.
Meanwhile, sources said both PA Sangma and Neiphiu Rio are lobbying for the ministerial berth at the Centre. Even though the support of NPP and NPF to the NDA may be insignificant in a scenario where the BJP alone is expected to cross the 272 mark, Rio and Sangma have won the hearts of Narendra Modi and BJP bigwigs.
Meanwhile, under the banner of NERPF, former Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga will exert all out effort to cripple Lal Thanhawa-led Congress government in his state while ex-chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta will do the same in Assam against the Tarun Gogoi’s government. The push from the NDA to the NERPF will bring a big political equation in the region.
