SHILLONG, Aug 28 � The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is slated to enter into a pre-poll alliance with the Congress ahead of Assembly elections scheduled next year in Meghalaya.
Interestingly, the Purno Sangma-led NCP in Meghalaya and the Congress weren�t allied in the State. This, after Sangma years back opposed the Congress president Sonia Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister, because of her foreign origin. He along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar were expelled from the Congress party.
Although, Pawar managed to get cosy with the Congress forging alliances at the Centre and different States, the NCP in Meghalaya remained aloof until recently when Sangma reached out to Sonia to make amends.
However, with Sangma now out of the NCP and joining the National People�s Party, Robert Kharshiing, the NCP�s central observer in Meghalaya, said, his party would forge an alliance with the Congress and fight elections together.
�The NCP is a coalition partner of the Congress at the Centre and Maharashtra, therefore, forging an alliance with the Congress in Meghalaya shouldn�t be a problem,� Kharshiing said.
Kharshiing said he is �hundred per cent sure� that the Congress High Command would accept the proposal of having a pre-poll alliance with the NCP in Meghalaya.
The NCP is also thinking on the lines of having a pre-poll alliance, not just with the Congress, but also with other regional parties of the State like the United Democratic Party, Hill State People�s Democratic Party and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement.
�We would also meet leaders of the regional political parties � the UDP, the HSPDP and the KHNAM for a pre-poll alliance. The UDP and HSPDP are already partners of the Congress in the Meghalaya Government and I feel that they should also be part of the grand alliance,� Kharshiing said.
