Johnny Nellor, a former Kerala Congress leader, launches a political party
Johnny Nelloor, a former state legislator who recently left the Kerala Congress party, introduced the National Progressive Party (NPP) on Saturday.
Nellor will serve as the acting head of the NPP while V V Augustine, a former member of the National Minorities Commission, serves as the party's chairperson.
Augustine stated that they will contact the Election Commission soon to register the name and flag of the NPP during a news conference arranged to introduce the new party.
No political party is in opposition to us. We don't particularly identify with the CPI(M), Congress, or BJP. We have a free-thinking perspective," Augustine told the media.
But he added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a well-known figure in the world, and the NPP will meet with him to discuss the party's demands for the defence of farmers' interests.
Nellor predicted that more people would join NPP in the near future.
Nelloor, a prominent member of the Kerala Congress, resigned from both organisations on April 19 in order to launch a "national-level" party that he said would represent the interests of farmers.
Many believe that Nelloor's decision to found a new party is an attempt to align with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and provide the saffron party a footing in the southern state where it lacks MLAs and MPs.