The National People's Party is a national-level political party in India, though its influence is mostly concentrated in the state of Meghalaya. The party was founded by P. A. Sangma after his expulsion from the NCP in July 2012. It was accorded national party status on 7 June 2019. It is the first political party from Northeastern India to have attained this status.[3]
National People's Party | |
|---|---|
_logo_2023.png){kind=logo} | |
| Abbreviation | NPP |
| President | Conrad Sangma |
| Lok Sabha Leader | Agatha Sangma |
| Rajya Sabha Leader | Wanweiroy Kharlukhi |
| Founder | P. A. Sangma |
| Founded | 6 January 2013 |
| Split from | Nationalist Congress Party |
| Headquarters | Shillong, Meghalaya |
| Student wing | National People's Students Union-NPSU |
| Youth wing | National People’s Youth Front |
| Women's wing | National People's Women Committee |
| Ideology | Secularism[1] Cultural conservatism[2] |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| ECI Status | National Party |
| Alliance | NDA (National) NEDA (Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur) MDA (Meghalaya) |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 1 / 543 |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 1 / 245 |
| Seats in State Legislative Assembly | 44 / 4,036 List |
| Number of states and union territories in government | 4 / 31 |
| Election symbol | |
 | |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| www | |
History edit
In January 2013, P. A. Sangma launched the party on the national level. He announced that his party would be in alliance with the National Democratic Alliance led by Bharatiya Janta Party. Sangma also reiterated that though the membership of the party is open to all, it shall be a tribalcentric party.[4]
Sangma who has been a nine-time Member of Parliament, had announced to form a new political party soon after his expulsion from the Nationalist Congress Party in July 2012, when he refused to accept party decision to quit the 2012 Indian presidential election.
NPP contested the assembly election of Rajasthan in December 2013, under the leadership of Kirodi Lal Meena, a former BJP member and MP (Independent from Dausa) at the time of election and won four seats.[5]
Currently, it is a part of North-East Democratic Alliance consisting of political parties of the northeast which has supported the National Democratic Alliance.
In 2015, in a rare move election commission has suspended NPP for its failure to provide party's expenditure during Lok Sabha Elections held in 2014. NPP became first party to get suspended by EC.[6]
In September 2015, the leaders of six parties — Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Jan Adhikar Party, Samras Samaj Party, National People's Party and Samajwadi Janata Party – announced the formation of a third front known as the Socialist Secular Morcha ahead of the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.[7][8][9] The National People's Party fought on three seats as part of the alliances,[7] and lost in all.
In May 2016, after the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance formed its first government in Assam, and formed a new alliance called the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) with Himanta Biswa Sarma as its convener. The Chief Ministers of the north eastern states of Sikkim, Assam, and Nagaland too belong to this alliance. Thus, the National People's Party joined the NEDA.[10]
The NPP contested nine candidates in the 2017 Manipur Legislative Assembly election and won four seats.
The NPP won 19 seats in the 2018 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election. Although the ruling Indian National Congress emerged as the single largest party, the NEDA collectively held a majority. Conrad Sangma became Chief Minister of Meghalaya, becoming the first member of the party to lead an Indian state.[11][12][13]
The party decided to contest the 2023 assembly elections without any pre-poll alliances. The party wan 26 seats, and formed a government supported by BJP and over NEDA members.[14]
On 6 May 2023, the People's Democratic Front party merged with National People's Party.[15]
Election symbol edit
Its election symbol is a book.[16] The significance for the same is that the party believes that only literacy and education can empower the weaker sections.[4]
Key Leaders edit
| Member | Portrait | Current/ Previous Position | Party Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conrad Sangma |  |
| National President |
| Prestone Tynsong | _Public_Health_Engineering_Relief_And_Rehabilitation_(cropped).jpg) |
| National Vice President |
| James Sangma |
| National Spokesperson, National General Secretary (I/C), Finance | |
| Thomas A. Sangma |
| National General Secretary (I/C),Organisation | |
| Agatha Sangma |
| National General Secretary |
Electoral Performance edit
The party won a seat in 2014 Loksabha elections from Tura and Sangma became MP ones again. After the death of P. A. Sangma in 2016, his son Conrad Sangma won a by-election held in May 2016 fo fill this seat. The party had proposed to contest election and expand its base in tribal constituencies of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, northern West Bengal and the Northeast India.[4]
In March 2018, the party won 19 out of 60 assembly seats in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election 2018 and formed government in the state in coalition with BJP and other parties and party president Conrad Sangma sworn in as Chief Minister of the state. In May 2018, the party won Williamnagar Assembly seat in a by-election making its tally to 20 out of 60 assembly seats in Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.[17][18]
General election results edit
| Election | Lok sabha | Party leader | Seats contested | Seats won | +/- in seats | Overall vote % | Vote swing | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 16th | Conrad Sangma | 8 | 1 / 543 |  1 | 0.10 | 0.10 | |
| 2019 | 17th | 11 | 1 / 543 |  | 0.07 |  0.03 | ||
| 2024 | 18th | 0 / 543 | TBD | TBD |
State Assembly elections edit
| Election Year | Leader | seats contested | seats won | +/- in seats | Overall votes | % of overall votes | +/- in vote share | Sitting side |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2019 | Conrad Sangma | 30 | 5 / 60 | 2 | 90,347 | 14.56 | 14.56 | Government (BJP coalition) |
| 2024 | TBD | TBD | 0 / 60 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Assam Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2021 | Conrad Sangma | 11 | 0 / 126 | | 18,087 | 0.09 | 0.09 | |
| Bihar Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2020 | 1 | 0 / 243 | | 649 | 0.00 | | ||
| Jharkhand Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2019 | 1 | 0 / 81 | | 987 | 0.01 | 0.01 | | |
| Karnataka Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2023 | 2 | 0 / 224 | | 489 | 0.00 | | ||
| Manipur Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2012 | 5 | 0 / 60 | 3 | 17,301 | 1.2% | | ||
| 2017 | Conrad Sangma | 4 / 60 | 4 | 83,744 | 5.1 | 3.9 | Government (BJP coalition) | |
| 2022 | Yumnam Joykumar Singh | 38 | 7 / 60 | 3 | 321,302 | 17.3 | 12.2 | Government (BJP coalition) |
| Meghalaya Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2013 | Conrad Sangma | 2 / 60 | 2 | 1,16,251 | 8.8 | 8.8 | Opposition | |
| 2018 | 52 | 19 / 60 | 17 | 2,33,745 | 20.60 | 11.8 | Government (NEDA coal | |
| 2023 | 57 | 26 / 60 | 7 | 5,84,338 | 31.49 | 10.89 | Government (NEDA coalition) | |
| Mizoram Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2018 | 10 | 0 / 40 | | 3748 | 0.59 | 0.59 | | |
| Nagaland Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2018 | Conrad Sangma | 25 | 2 / 60 | 2 | 71,503 | 7.12 | 7.12 | Government (NDPP coalition) |
| 2023 | Andrew Ahoto | 12 | 5 / 60 | 3 | 65,920 | 5.76 | 1.36 | Government (NDPP coalition) |
| Rajasthan Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2013 | Kirodi Lal Meena | 134 | 4 / 200 | 4 | 13,12,402 | 4.25 | 4.25 | |
| Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2021 | 3 | 0 / 234 | | 1187 | 0.00 | | ||
| West Bengal Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| 2021 | 3 | 0 / 294 | | 3880 | 0.01 | 0.01 | | |
List of MPs from NPP edit
Lok Sabha edit
| No. | Lok sabha | Constituency | Name | Election |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16th | Tura (ST) | Purno Agitok Sangma | 2014 |
| 2 | Conrad Sangma | 2016 (by election) | ||
| 3 | 17th | Agatha Sangma | 2019 |
Rajya Sabha edit
| Sr. No | Name | Date of Appointment | Date of Retirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wanweiroy Kharlukhi | 22-Jun-2020 | 21-Jun-2026 |
List of NPP State Governments edit
Meghalaya edit
| Assembly | Chief Minister | Cabinet | Deputy Chief Minister/s | Tenure | Election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | Conrad Sangma | Sangma I | Prestone Tynsong | - | 6 March 2018 | 7 March 2023 | 6 years, 80 days | 2018 | |||
| 11th | Sangma II | Sniawbhalang Dhar | 7 March 2023 | Incumbent | 2023 | ||||||
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "NPP President Likha calls party 'secular'".
- ^ "Don't forget your roots & identity, Conrad tells youth | Highland Post". 25 November 2023.
- ^ "NPP Becomes First Political Outfit from the Northeast to get Status of National Party". News18. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- ^ a b c "Sangma launches National People's Party, forms alliance with NDA". India Today. PTI. 5 January 2013.
- ^ Parihar, Rohit (19 December 2013). "Rajasthan: BJP's win is the biggest ever for any party, Congress's loss is the worst". India Today. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ "EC suspends National People's Party for not providing expense report". mint. 17 June 2015.
- ^ a b "Samajwadi Party teams up with Pappu Yadav, NCP, 3 others to form third front". Times of India. 19 September 2015.
- ^ "Mulayam front suffers big blow, NCP to go it alone - Times of India". The Times of India. 16 October 2015.
- ^ "Bihar polls: NCP quits Third Front, cites Mulayam Singh's 'pro-BJP statement'". The Economic Times. 15 October 2015.
- ^ "Amit Shah holds meeting with northeast CMs, forms alliance". Hindustan Times. 25 May 2016.
- ^ "Hung Assembly in Meghalaya, Congress single largest party". The Hindu. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ "Meghalaya assembly elections 2018: NPP-led alliance all set to form govt". Mint. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ "Congress outsmarted in Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma to be sworn in March 6". The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ "More support arrives for Conrad Sangma's NPP to form government in Meghalaya". The Hindu. 5 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ "PDF merges with NPP". The Shillong Times. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ "Political Parties And Election Symbols as on 08-03-2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ "Williamnagar By-Election: NPP Candidate Marcuise Marak Wins Meghalaya Assembly Bypolls". News18. 1 May 2018.
- ^ "NPP wins Williamnagar Assembly seat in Meghalaya". The Hindu. 1 May 2018.
