Despite his party being an ally of the National People’s Party (NPP) for the past five years, the United Democratic Party’s (UDP) general secretary Jemino Mawthoh has termed the coalition partner as “self-interested”.
Stating that the NPP does not have any respect for the partners in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, Mawthoh told Highland Post recently, “The NPP should be obligated to the UDP because it is the UDP who have remained steadfast in the government for almost five years now because it believes in unity and stability in the government. But this does not mean that the NPP should take advantage of our generosity. Now that the term has almost ended, they are going hammer and tongs and targeting us.”
The NPP, specifically Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, is going all out to woo voters in seats where the UDP is strong, such as Nongthymmai and Mawlai, he said. Mawthoh was the MLA for Nongthymmai until 2018 and appears to have taken this attention from the NPP as a personal affront as he is looking to make his return to the Assembly.
Schemes have been lavished on such constituencies but the people are not blind to the motives of the government, Mawthoh added, stating, “You are giving schemes left and right from the Chief Minister’s fund but, even if it’s your prerogative, the people can read between the lines. This is a last moment betrayal and the NPP is going down and will crumble in the 2023 election.”
