The Hindu : NDA is fine, BJP not in this lifetime: Sangma

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 23, 2004

National

National

NDA is fine, BJP not in this lifetime: Sangma

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, JAN. 22. The former Lok Sabha Speaker, P.A. Sangma, has categorically ruled out the possibility of joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Talking to The Hindu, he made it clear that the BJP was a "no go" as far as he was concerned. "I will not be joining the party, at least not in this lifetime," he said.

He left the Congress in 1999 because of his opposition to Sonia Gandhi's leadership owing to her foreign origin; five years later he is all set to part ways with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on the same issue.

Mr. Sangma said he would have nothing to do with a Congress that had Ms. Gandhi as its leader.

He said that there was a "big gulf" between his views and those of the BJP on issues such as cultural nationalism, Christian missionaries and ban on beef-eating.

"I do not subscribe to the notion of cultural nationalism. We are a multicultural country and should remain so; similarly whether beef should be banned is a State subject and there is no need to interfere with it," he said.

His differences with the BJP notwithstanding, Mr. Sangma is all set to make his entry into the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. He points out that the dynamics of politics in the country has undergone a change with the presence of a large number of secular parties in the NDA.

"Either the political parties have failed to convince the people that the BJP is a communal party or the people themselves have opted for such a party — either way, the dynamics of politics has changed and one needs to recognise that," he said.

Mr. Sangma maintained that had the NCP continued with its policy of maintaining equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress, he would have remained with the party.

"Ideally, I would have preferred a non-NDA non-Congress formation at the Centre, but that is not feasible at the moment and once the NCP tilted in favour of the Congress, I had no choice but to plump for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)."

Mr. Sangma claimed that there was nothing personal in his opposition to Ms. Gandhi's leadership. "It is not about personalities, it is all about national pride, honour and commitment to principles," he said.

He also believed that it was not enough for Ms. Gandhi to say that the issue would be decided after the elections. "These days it is a Presidential kind of election, people want to know who is the Opposition's answer to the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee," he said.

Mr. Sangma feels that the Congress' interests would have been better served if it had put up somebody like the former Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, as its Prime Ministerial candidate. "He is my political guru... and by far the most scholarly politician, his knowledge is absolutely amazing."

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