Friday, December 24 2004 13:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Shillong: Former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma today (Dec 24, 2004) said the decision whether he would rejoin the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) would be taken after the Christmas celebrations.

Asked by reporters when he would take a final decision on his future political course, Sangma said, "I am going back to Delhi after the Christmas. Let's see there."

The NTC (Nationalist Trinamool Congress) MP was now celebrating Christmas in home-town Tura in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district.

Earlier on December 6, Sangma said he would decide by the end of the month on his re-entry to NCP as staying in the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) was getting "difficult" after the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) returned to the "Hindutva" fold following the poll debacle.

He had then said that although he did not receive any "formal invitation" from the NCP but Tariq Anwar, the outfit's general secretary, made a public statement welcoming Sangma's re-entry to the Sharad Pawar led party.

Sangma had quit the NCP just before the Parliamentary polls earlier this year as the Sharad Pawar-led group decided to ally with Congress.

He then merged his faction with Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress after the Kolkata-based party changed its nomenclature. Sangma won the Tura Lok Sabha seat for the eight time in a row as an NTC member.

Of late the Tura MP was inching towards NCP as his son Conrad Sangma was poised to plunge into electoral politics for the party's ticket in a coming by-election.