Shillong: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has declared the National People’s Party (NPP) as one of the national political parties.
NPP national president and Meghalaya chief minister, Conrad K. Sangma have dedicated the achievement to the founding leader of the party, late Purno Agitok Sangma.
“…the Commission has granted recognition to the NPP as a national party. Further, as per the request of the party, the symbol ‘Book’ has been allotted as the reserved symbol for the NPP,” an order issued by the ECI secretary, Pramod Kumar Sharma said on Friday.
It said, the NPP was already a recognized state party in the states of Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland and after its recognition as a state party in Arunachal Pradesh, it has become a recognized state party in the four states.
“Thus, the party has fulfilled the eligibility condition for being recognized as the National Party as laid down in the paragraph 6B (iii) (the party is recognized as a state party in at least four states),” the order said.
The order also stated that the review of the poll performance of the NPP in the general elections to the Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh in 2019 showed that the candidates set up by the party have polled 14.55% of the valid votes polled, and in addition, the party has won 5 out of 60 Assembly seats.
It is seen from the poll performance of the party that it has fulfilled the requirements for recognition as a state party in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The NPP is also leading the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government in Meghalaya, and the party has 21 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly.
Terming as a “proud moment” for the party, the NPP national president said, “it is a very important day for the NPP as the ECI has given a notification and order declaring the NPP as the eighth national party in the country. “It is a very proud moment for each and every owner of the party and it is definitely dedicated to our leader late PA Sangma who had started the party, and it was his dream to see the NPP as a national party,” Conrad said.
The Meghalaya Chief Minister also thanked all party workers who have contributed and helped the party to achieve to this level and said, “We owe it to the grassroots workers of the NPP, and I take this opportunity to thank all of them.”
Stating that this has taken the party to a different level, Conrad said, “More challenges will come, but we will continue to ensure that the party is strengthened in the future also.”