By PTI
SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and his brother Power Minister James PK Sangma on Friday skipped the Assembly session here to rush to Manipur to negotiate with BJP in a bid to include the National People’s Party in the next government in that state.
However, BJP which has won a simple majority in the Manipur assembly in elections, counting for which concluded Thursday and its state leaders including care-taker chief minister N Biren Singh have indicated they are not too keen to continue the alliance with NPP which is part of the NDA, in the state.
The NPP has won 7 seats and is the second largest party in Manipur while the BJP has won 32 seats.
The saffron party’s leaders have however indicated they favoured taking support from the Naga People’s Front which has 5 seats.
“The Meghalaya Chief Minister is camping in Imphal along with NPP national spokesperson James PK Sangma. They are camping at the state capital with other party leaders,” a NPP leader told PTI, requesting anonymity.
The NPP president is using his age-old connections with BJP top leadership both in the North East and in Delhi to try and mend the broken relationship his party shared with the BJP in Manipur, according to the NPP leader.
The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance led by the NPP in also includes 2 BJP MLAs, one of whom is in the cabinet.
However, the BJP has been unhappy with the MDA taking in Congress legislators into the Government and with NPP engaging the BJP in `friendly’ fights in the Manipur assembly elections.
