New Lamka (Churachandpur), April 8 : Northeast’s strongman and Nationalist Congress Party leader P.A. Sangma today lambasted the AICC and its general secretary Rahul Gandhi for raising an “emotive issue” concerning Manipur’s territorial integrity.
Rahul Gandhi, while addressing an election rally at Tuibong on the outskirts of Churachandpur town on April 2, assured the people of Manipur that the Congress would not change the existing boundary of the state.
“The Congress leaders always brought up the subject during elections to fool the people. Such a serious issue should not be taken as a national policy without consulting the people involved. Due consultations with the stakeholders should have been made before making it a national policy,” Sangma told reporters at the district headquarters today.
Accompanied by his son Conrad Sangma, the NCP leader addressed an election rally for party candidate in the Outer constituency, L.B. Sona, at the auditorium of the Young Paite Association here.
Reacting to Rahul’s promise and the campaign by the Nagaland PCC on the issue of Naga integration, Sangma said, “Congress has no clarity. Its members are a confused lot. So they are trying to fool the people for electoral gains.”
Asked about the promises made in the election manifesto of the state unit of the NCP that pledges to safeguard Manipur’s territory, Sangma said it was a state manifesto and anyone here could make any demand. He, however, made it clear that his party stood for the state’s territorial integrity.
He said the Northeast Peoples Front, formed recently by the non-Congress parties in the region, would be a strong force in Parliament that could make the national leaders in Delhi recognise and listen to them. Sangma urged the leaders of communities in Manipur to shun their egos and unite for a common cause.
