Rapprochement between North Shillong MLA Adelbert Nongrun and the Voice of the People Party (VPP) appears to be farther away than ever after the legislator struck a defiant note today, refusing to be a mere yes-man.
Nongrum is one of four VPP legislators who won their seats in the 2023 state election and he joined the nascent party just weeks before polling. However, he was reportedly left disappointed after the party did not support his suggestions for MDCs for the Mawkhar-Pynthorumkhrah and Jaiaw seats in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) election this year. In February, Nongrum and four disappointed ticket aspirants put out a video that went viral attacking the party. He and the other four were subsequently suspended in March from the VPP for three years.
Speaking on the sidelines of a public protest on an unrelated issue, Nongrum said that he feels like a free man now that the VPP has suspended him.
“I’m free now because the VPP has suspended me but I will continue to speak for the voice of the public,” the MLA said. “I have done nothing wrong. If I have made a mistake, I have spoken before the media that I am ready to be on my knees and ask for forgiveness but they dare not invite me to talk because they only want yes-men. I will not bow to anyone and I will not let anyone mislead anyone in the name of the voice of the people or clean politics and in the name of wiping out favouritism and high-level attitude. They have violated all these and I am not a yes-man.”
