Castle in the air: VPP calls Sangma’s pan-northeast political move a futile ambition

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: In a sharp political takedown, the Voice of the People's Party (VPP) has dismissed Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People's Party (NPP) chief Conrad K. Sangma's latest bid to forge a unified Northeast political front as nothing more than a desperate act of political self-preservation. VPP spokesperson Dr Batskhem Myrboh said the move reflected the NPP leader's overstretched national ambitions rather than any genuine regional consolidation.

"The attempt made by Conrad Sangma, I will call it building castles in the air," Dr Myrboh said, asserting that the idea of a single political party representing the entire Northeast is detached from the ground realities of the region's deep-rooted ethnic, linguistic, and political diversity. He noted that the Northeast "is a region of diversity, a region of different identities," making any notion of uniform regional unity politically untenable.

Recalling the NPP's origins, Dr Myrboh said, "When you look back, late P. A. Sangma had the political ambition of forming the All India Tribal Party… he contested elections in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and won some seats. But ultimately, the party was reduced to Meghalaya. They won a few seats in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland, and because of that, they became a regional political party." He added that the current attempt by Conrad Sangma is merely a continuation of the family's long-standing national ambitions that have failed to materialize.

"Had they realized that the NPP reached nowhere in spite of being a national party - it has no representation in the Lok Sabha - they would have understood that their political ambition is clipped compared to reality," Dr Myrboh said, calling the NPP's pan-Northeast aspiration a "political illusion."

He further suggested that Sangma's renewed push for a regional alliance could be driven by "political insecurity", as the NPP faces mounting challenges at home. "Maybe this is an attempt at political survival made by the leader of the NPP after realizing that his position in Meghalaya is hugely threatened, both internally and by other political parties in the state," he stated, expressing doubt that the plan "will have any future."

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