United Democratic Party (UDP) president Metbah Lyngdoh today almost totally contradicted what party working president and cabinet minister Paul Lyngdoh had asserted only a few days ago regarding the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP).
While Paul had claimed that the HSPDP was on its way out of the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) formed with the UDP, Metbah today said that the HSPDP remains and will remain in the alliance.
“The alliance of the UDP and the HSPDP is very much intact and there is no problem at all,” Metbah told reporters this evening.
Last week Paul said that there is a trust deficit between the two parties after their joint choice for Shillong MP candidate, Robertjune Kharjahrin, failed miserably in the recent Lok Sabha election, coming a poor fourth in the polls. Paul also said that the HSPDP had informed of its decision to leave the alliance verbally but not formally in writing or through a meeting with the UDP.
Metbah, for his part, said that the UDP does not blame the HSPDP for the election defeat of Kharjahrin, who was a UDP member and ran on the party symbol. The two HSPDP legislators in the state Assembly were suspected of being downright hostile to Kharjahrin as he had attacked them when he was still a leader of the Hynniewtrep Youths Council following the state election in early 2023. At that time, the UDP had been trying to form a government without the National People’s Party (NPP) but the plan turned out to be a damp squib after the two HSPDP MLAs slipped away from a meeting to pledge allegiance to the NPP.
Metbah explained that even some UDP legislators did not campaign extensively for Kharjahrin due to other commitments
Last week Paul had said that the HSPDP will contest the upcoming district council elections on its own and not in alliance with the UDP. Metbah did not deny this but said that there is still time for an agreement on seat sharing to be made. The party president said that an RDA meeting will be convened to discuss this and other issues.
Regarding reports that certain UDP leaders have expressed a wish to pull out from the governing coalition with the NPP due to the parliamentary poll debacle, Metbah affirmed that the party will remain with the government.
Some within the party want the UDP to split with the NPP, fearing that a continued partnership will cost the party votes at subsequent elections due to the latter’s supposed unpopularity. To this Metbah pointed out that the UDP won six seats in the Assembly in 2018 but in 2023, after five years in government with the NPP, had doubled its tally to 12.
“We believe that we will work together in the MDA (Meghalaya Democratic Alliance) 2 and in the 2028 election the people will reward us with even more seats,” he added.
Still, he could not explain why the party performed so badly in the recent Lok Sabha election. During the recently-held review meeting to analyse the loss, the UDP decided that all of its MLAs and other party leaders will go back to the people at the grassroots to find out why the party candidate was so completely rejected.
