Shillong: National People’s Party (NPP) leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar on Monday refuted rumours of growing differences within the party, asserting that the NPP remained a “peaceful family” and that there was no question of any internal “grumbling”. He said everything was peaceful within the party and that its leaders respected one another.
Dhar said the NPP was focused on working for the people of Meghalaya and maintained that the party remained united. “This is a false allegation. We in the NPP are all happy, and there is no such move or dialogue with the BJP from the NPP. We are happy. Our leader is Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, and he will continue until the end of his term,” he said.
Dhar said the NPP has 33 MLAs and had kept its promises since Day 1 of the MDA-II Government. He expressed confidence that the party would improve its tally in the 2028 Assembly elections.
“In 2028, as per my expectation, we should get more than 33 MLAs in the general elections,” he said.
On speculation that he could replace Conrad Sangma as Chief Minister, Dhar dismissed the reports and reiterated that Sangma would continue in office until the completion of the government’s term in 2028. He also said the NPP would respect all its coalition partners and work together with them.
On reports that the United Democratic Party (UDP) may move towards the BJP, Dhar said he had no comment on the “internal affairs” of another political party. He said every political party wanted to strengthen its own organisation and there was nothing wrong with that. The NPP leader described the BJP as the NPP’s coalition partner and said the BJP had not “pulled” the UDP MLAs, adding that any decision to move towards the BJP was the UDP MLAs’ own choice.
“UDP is not our home, it’s their home. I am not taking a call on that,” he said.
Dhar reiterated that the NPP was “happy within the family” and maintained that the MDA-II Government remained stable. He asserted that the existing political arrangement would remain unchanged and there would be no change in the government.
