Shillong, Dec 3: Leader of the Opposition in the Meghalaya Assembly, Dr Mukul Sangma, has downplayed the recent One North East (ONE) initiative of regional political parties, saying there is nothing new about the partnership behind it.
ONE is being spearheaded by the National People’s Party (NPP), TIPRA Motha of Tripura, etc to, ostensibly, present a unified voice for the North East in the corridors of power so that the region is accorded more importance by the central government and other quarters.
Responding to a question on the initiative, Dr Sangma said that Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and TIPRA leader Pradyot Manikya Debbarma have already been working closely for a long time.
This initiative is thus only an attempt to reach out on a larger scale but the association itself is not new. According to him, the North East will witness many unexpected political developments in the coming years. “Keep your fingers crossed,” he said, hinting at “many surprises” across the region for the good of the people.
When asked whether ONE has connections to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as had been claimed by Congress Party state chief Vincent Pala on Monday, Dr Sangma said that this was undoubtedly the case, as both the NPP and TIPRA are BJP allies.
The real question, he added, was whether the move to create ONE is actually a way for Conrad and Debbarma to distance themselves from the BJP. “That question has to be posed to them,” he said.
