The mood in the United Democratic Party (UDP) less than two years away from the next state elections is positive, its general secretary, Jemino Mawthoh, said today.
“We are strengthening the party and adopting our own strategies to come up with a very clear vision of what we are going to do in the next, decisive, one-two decades on the problems of poverty, unemployment, health, education, etc,” Mawthoh told Highland Post. “We want to complete the process of party reorganisation this year so that we can start campaigning fully next year.”
While the UDP continues to win seats in Khasi-Jaiñtia Hills, it has not returned any representatives from Garo Hills for some years now. Its performance in the western range peaked in 1988 with 10 seats, by Mawthoh’s count, but went on the decline in the 1990s, especially after Purno Sangma floated the Nationalist Congress Party.
“After the downslide, we have not had MLAs and MDCs in Garo Hills, which has gradually weakened the party organisation. However, this time we made an effort and campaigned actively in Garo Hills (for the district council election). We were still not able to win a seat but the vote share of the UDP increased. Some of our candidates got more than 6,000 votes, while our candidate from Baghmara stood second, which means our vote share has jumped,” he explained. “We also have Samuel Sangma, who won four consecutive times in Garo Hills and is an associate member of the UDP, and the party will rise in Garo Hills and secure seats in 2023.”
When asked about the Congress and its supposed attempts to woo UDP members to its own ranks, Mawthoh said that the grand old party is a sinking ship, not just in Meghalaya but in the whole of the country.
Part of this has to do with the friction that is apparent between Meghalaya Congress president Vincent Pala and leader of the opposition Dr Mukul Sangma, Mawthoh added, and the public know that the party is in disarray.
