The Hindu : Sangma against tie-up with Sonia-led Congress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 07, 2004

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National

Sangma against tie-up with Sonia-led Congress

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JAN. 6. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, Purno Sangma, has once again opposed his party aligning with the Congress, as long as Sonia Gandhi remained its leader. "The NCP came into being on the leadership question. How can we compromise on the issue?'' he asked.

Though the NCP leadership is expected to take a final decision on January 25 on alliances, Mr. Sangma's remarks assume significance, coming after he called on the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani.

Mr. Sangma made no bones about the fact that the main hurdle in the way of several secular parties joining the Congress-led front was Ms. Gandhi's leadership. "If P.V. Narasimha Rao is projected as the leader ahead of the elections, most parties would be willing to join the front," he said.

The NCP leader said that most of the State units of his party had divergent views on alliances. While the Maharashtra unit favoured an alliance with the Congress, the Kerala unit was for tying up with the Left parties. The units in the northeast favoured going with the National Democratic Alliance.

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