Preparing for a split in his party on the issue of aligning with the Congress, senior NCP leader Purno A. Sangma met Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee tonight and discussed the possibilities of a tie-up between the North-East People’s Forum (NEPF) and BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.After a 30-minute meeting at the PM’s official residence, Sangma told reporters that he discussed with Vajpayee the issue of electoral adjustments between the NEPF and the BJP in case they decided to go together. Denying reports that he was quitting the NCP, Sangma, who heads the 17-party NEPF of which NCP is a part, said NEPF leaders would meet here tomorrow to take a final decision on a tie-up with the BJP.Asked about NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s statement that he would persuade him to change his mind, Sangma said: ‘‘Pawar has his own compulsions in Maharashtra and I fully appreciate that. Similarly, I have my own in North-East and he should appreciate that.’’ ‘‘I met the Prime Minister with two agenda — one was about insurgency in the North-East and the other was the possibilities of a tie-up between the NEPF and NDA in case the two decide to go together in the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.He also told Vajpayee that there should be perfect understanding between Centre and states on tackling of the insurgency problem.Though the NEPF was formed basically to tackle the socio-economic development and problems like insurgency and infiltration in the N-E but looking at the present political scenario in the country, ‘‘we would discuss whether we should contest polls together or separately.’’‘‘In the event of going together, what would be the relations and electoral adjustments and alignment between the two,’’ he said.Declining to divulge details of the talks, Sangma said it covered recent operation against Indian insurgent groups based in Bhutan and growing menace along India-Myanmar and India-Bangladesh borders.The NEPF was formed recently as a platform to highlight the issues and problems of the N-E region by aligning itself with the NDA. The NEPF comprises BJP, Arunachal Congress, Mizo National Front and other prominent and ruling parties in the region.
