New Delhi, May 10:As the top decision-making bodies of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the working committee and the national council, were engaged in talks here on the party’s future strategy and its equations vis-à-vis the Congress, former Lok Sabha Speaker and senior NCP leader Purno A Sangma has floated a radical idea: the growth of regional parties is “not healthy” and, therefore, the Congress and the BJP should come together and run the country in a coalition.

Speaking to The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV’s Walk The Talk broadcast tonight, Sangma said: “My advice would be for the Congress and the BJP to come together and run the country in a coalition. BJP can easily dissociate themselves with fundamental organizations like RSS or VHP. Let BJP be a real political party focusing on development issues. There is no great difference between the economic and foreign policies of the BJP and Congress. If this happens, in no time India will be a superpower,” said Sangma.

He said that the idea came to him when in 2005, the two big rival parties in Germany came together and formed the government. “That (BJP-Congress) would be a better and stable coalition. My thinking was reinforced when I saw it in Pakistan recently when the PPP and PML, sworn enemies, came together for the sake of their country,” he said. Asked if anyone would buy this, he said he hoped that there would, at least, be a debate. Sangma praised late Rajiv Gandhi and said if he had taken this idea to him, he, too, would have debated it.

Asked if he misses the Congress party, Sangma said, “No doubt, I miss the big party. In my opinion, in a country of India’s size and complexity, massive growth of regional parties is not healthy. And a national party is required in this great country.”

Explaining his opposition to Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister, he said he still held the view that the largest democracy should have a PM born here, and not someone whose citizenship was naturalised. “If the situation arises again, I’ll be taking the same stand. Anyway I have left Central politics and come to state politics, and I don’t intend to go back to Parliament. But if my party joins the government with her as the PM, I’ll have to think twice,” he said.

Asked if he had a chat with Pawar on this, he said, “I don’t think Sharad Pawar has changed his mind or stance at all. He was more vocal than me.” Sangma, however, added that he would have no problem with any other person “be it Priyanka Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi, because they were born in India”.

Reminded that Pawar and Patel had said it was for the Congress to choose, Sangma said, “Then may be it is their personal opinion but the party has not taken any stand on that... I have no problem with Rahul or Priyanka, and I think they should be given equal opportunity, just like I am doing for my children.”

Sangma said he had great regard for Sonia Gandhi and she had put a lot of trust on him when he was in the Congress. “She gave me a lot of responsibility for which I am very grateful to her. I differ only on the question of being the PM, otherwise I think she is a very fine person who allows people to work. She had put up a task force to revive the Congress party under my chairmanship,” he said.

On Saturday, the NCP said it favoured consultations among UPA constituents on the issue of projecting the next Prime Minister of the country, even as it conceded that the Congress by virtue of being the largest party in the coalition has a final say on this issue.

“For the sake of broader unity of the UPA, all constituents should be taken into confidence. But consultation is not necessary a decision,” said NCP general secretary D P Tripathi today in reply to queries about his party’s stance on the projection of the PM in the next Lok Sabha election.

Emerging out of the NCP’s extended Working Committee meeting here today, Tripathi also voiced the party’s unease about the way the Congress was leading the coalition.

“There should be more efforts to strengthen the UPA,” he said adding that the Congress should wake up to the reality of an era of coalition politics both at the national and the state level. The NCP wanted the Congress to take along its allies in the process of decision-making. “They (Congress) seem to be not too keen on taking all partners together along with them for keeping the communal forces out,” said Tripathi.

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