Former Deputy Chief Minister Bindo M Lanong is inching towards leaving the United Democratic Party, with the latest insult to hit the veteran politician being the way he was ignored by the UDP when it announced its first tranche of candidates for the upcoming state election.
Yesterday, the party revealed 32 candidates for the 2023 polls. Lanong claims not to have been notified about the special gathering of the UDP’s top brass.
“I have no information of such a gathering of the UDP yesterday because no one informed me,” he told Highland Post today.
Currently only a nominated MDC and adviser to the party that he has served for more than 20 years, Lanong has been involved in a bitter fight to stake his claim to the party’s ticket for Nongkrem constituency. The UDP seems set to award this to sitting MLA Lambor Malngiang even though the independent legislator has yet to formally join the party.
When asked yesterday about the fate of Lanong, Assembly Speaker and UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh simply said that the party is not ignoring anyone but everyone also has to work for the party.
On reports that Lanong may float a new political party if he were denied a party ticket, Lyngdoh said, “I have not met him (Lanong) and he has not said this to me.”
Today, however, Lanong said, “Once they have decided to set me free or ignore me and don’t recognize me anymore, then I have every right to do whatever I want even though this can happen at a later stage.” He had previously suggested that he could run as an independent as any new party formed now may not be able to get Election Commission of India approval in time for the election.
Yesterday Lyngdoh also claimed that the UDP is fully united but Lanong questioned the validity of this statement since he, for one, is not happy with the way the party is going.
Lanong has not been an MLA since 2013 when he lost the first of two back-to-back contests for East Shillong. He has been drawn to Nongkrem, though, since no UDP candidate was fielded from there in 2018 and because Madanrting (which now falls under Nongkrem) was part of Lanong’s old Nongthymmai seat.
When asked about some of the UDP leaders who are of the opinion that Lanong should stick to East Shillong, he said, “Is it possible for me to also start telling them from which constituency they should contest elections?”
