Fresh from its success in the Mawphlang by-election and feeling positive about the response in Garo Hills, the United Democratic Party (UDP) is hoping that it will emerge as the biggest party in the 2023 state elections and be able to lead the new government.
The UDP is the second largest member of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, behind the National People’s Party. It had also previously been in a coalition with the Congress prior to 2013.
“I hope there is going to be a change this time,” UDP general secretary Jemino Mawthoh told reporters after an executive committee meeting today. “We have been with different political parties as partners in the government and have always been accused of being Team B to the Congress and the NPP. I hope this time around it’s going to be different and with the strengthening of the party and choosing the right candidates we will be able to win more seats and lead the government in 2023.”
The UDP is already allied with the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) in what is called the Regional Democratic Alliance. Any pre-poll alliance ahead of the 2023 polls will be debated in the party’s core committee, Mawthoh added.
When asked about whether the UDP will contest all 60 seats, Mawthoh said that such a decision will be taken only after studying the situation around the state and taking cognisance of local dynamics.
On the situation in Garo Hills, he saw it as encouraging that the party candidate for the Rajabala by-election, Ashahel Shira, could draw more than 7,000 votes. This came on the back of several second-placed finishes in this year’s Garo Hills Autonomous District Council elections, though it has to be said that the UDP has still drawn a blank in the western range of Meghalaya.
What is next on the horizon for the party is the completion of the UDP’s reorganisation by January before it begins campaigning in earnest for 2023.
At the meeting today, the UDP high command discussed how best to strengthen the party organisation at the district and constituency levels while also lifting the youth, women’s and farmers’ wings.
“The members had agreed that the core committee of the UDP will sit and articulate the views given by the party leaders at different levels and to provide the much-needed support and directions to all the districts to strengthen the party at different levels,” Mawthoh said.
Mawphlang was a seat that the UDP needed to hold and it was able to do so with ex-star footballer Eugeneson Lyngdoh taking over from his late father SK Sunn (who was an associate member of the party). However, the party did not contest the Mawryngkneng by-poll because, UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh said, it did not have a well-prepared candidate. There was no discussion at the party meeting regarding any push for an extra cabinet berth for the UDP, he added.
Meanwhile, the UDP today also felicitated Eugeneson, who won by a big margin of 4,400 votes, and Shira, who came third in Rajabala.
