New Delhi, June 28: The Sharad Pawar-led NCP today appointed party member of Parliament, Akhtar Hasan Rizvi as its Uttar Pradesh unit president following the resignation of Siraz Mehdi who along with a large number of party workers joined the congress. Talking to reporters here, Rizvi refuted the claim of Mehdi that all office-bearers and workers of the NCP unit had joined the Congress.

Rizvi's appointment as the head of the Uttar Pradesh unit was made by party general secretary Tariq Anwar along with party leader P A Sangma.

Later, Sangma told reporters that the party would not make any alliance with the Congress or the BJP in the coming assembly elections. "If at all we do have alliance, we will have it with secular parties," he said.

Sangma said that the NCP has emerged as a very strong party in Chhattisgarh where it is headed by former Congress leader V C Shukla.

On the coalition with the congress in Maharasthra, he said, "It was because of compulsion for otherwise we would have had to go for fresh elections."


Sangma said that NCP's differences with the congress were on the issue of leadership and "we have not left our issue."
He welcomed the Sino-Indian agreement on Sikkim and Tibet and said this would "go a long way in boosting the economy of the north-eastern region and we hope it would be extended to other parts of the region particularly Arunachal Pradesh."

Bureau Report