Voice of the People Party (VPP) spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh has termed the recent attacks on the party by the Chief Executive Member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) as a cry in the wilderness.
Pyniaid Sing Syiem had claimed that constituents of the four VPP seats in the Assembly are regretting their choice at last year’s state election because the nascent VPP is not delivering in terms of development or assistance to residents.
“These kinds of statements are like crying alone when there’s nobody interested to listen to you,” Myrboh told Highland Post recently.
Syiem had also called the VPP leadership a clown in the circus who only knows how to entertain people by spreading hatred and communalism.
“How many people are taking the statement made by Pyniaid Sing Syiem seriously? All we can say to him is keep shouting and screaming as long as time permits because eventually you will have to face an election,” Myrboh said, describing Syiem’s statement as childish.
He also said it is ridiculous to expect development to come from a party in opposition but it should instead come from the government, which is led by the National People’s Party (NPP), to which Syiem belongs.
“We would also like to ask him if the budget is controlled by the VPP or the government? Our MLAs, who are in the opposition, have pointed out issues and development needed but if the government ignores them, then it’s the government to be blamed,” Myrboh said.
The KHADC chief had also specifically targeted VPP president and Nongkrem MLA Ardent M Basaiawmoit for “wasting” public money in the past by resigning as an MDC, thereby triggering a by-election that cost money to organise. To this, Myrboh sarcastically quipped that Syiem is so averse to wasting money that he engineered a one year extension to the current KHADC’s term beyond its usual five years and perhaps might look to extend it indefinitely to save money.
The KHADC and JHADC terms have been extended ostensibly to complete the process of redrawing constituency boundaries (delimitation).
Meanwhile, when asked about the three Congress MLAs (two of whom are also MDCs in the KHADC) who joined the NPP recently, he said that these MLAs have only shown their true selves and do not have strong principles.
