NCP: Political alternative to BJP building up

Lucknow: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said here on Thursday that the process of bringing together a credible political alternative at the national level has already started.

Senior NCP leader and spokesman D.P. Tripathi said that the modalities of seat-sharing and choosing a leader would be decided later.

Talking to reporters here, Mr Tripathi welcomed the friendship between the BSP and SP in Uttar Pradesh and expressed the hope that it would emerge as a viable alternative in the Uttar Pradesh.

He said that a similar realignment of regional parties  would take place across the country to counter the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP government at the centre in the coming Lok Sabha polls.

“With every passing day, Prime Minister Narendra going down and the credibility of the regional parties is witnessing a proportional increase,” he said. Replying to a question, Mr Tripathi said that  issues related to leadership and seat sharing were secondary and would take care of itself as the elections came near because the need for a strong combined Opposition is gaining ground.

He said that the leadership question should be best left to the people and would be settled after the Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Tripathi also demanded a fresh look at the manner in parliamentary business was being conducted.

“A fresh set of rules should be framed to ensure the smooth functioning of parliament. During my 6- year tenure in the Rajya Sabha,  at least 48 per cent of time was wasted due to disruptions,” he pointed out.