Shillong, Sep 16: United Democratic Party (UDP) president Metbah Lyngdoh on Wednesday said the party was making efforts to clear doubts and misunderstandings among its elected members amid speculation that some MLAs could join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Lyngdoh said the UDP had held a meeting to discuss the issue and acknowledged that the possibility of some MLAs joining another party had been under consideration.
“As a party we had a meeting and it is understood that to whatever extent things were very much there under the consideration of those MLAs who wish to join the other political party,” he said.
However, he maintained that the reports remained speculation and that no clear decision had been communicated.
“For me, I consider it like this, it is neither true nor false. So it is half truth, I should say,” Lyngdoh said.
The UDP president said he and the party were pursuing the matter to address any doubts or misunderstandings among the elected members. He added that the party had not come across any dissatisfaction among its MLAs, either in one-to-one discussions or party meetings.
“I have also heard from one or two MLAs who have expressed openly that they do not have anything against the party nor the leadership of the party,” he said.
Asked how many of the UDP’s 12 MLAs were with him, Lyngdoh said he considered all of them to be together as one party. “Out of 12? See for me, I consider that all the 12 MLAs are together as one,” he said.
He rejected the framing of the issue as a question of how many MLAs were supporting him personally. “For me, I consider the question to be with me or not does not arise. Because we are under one umbrella, we are under one roof and we are under one party,” he said.
On reports that eight or nine MLAs could leave for the BJP, Lyngdoh said the party had been trying to engage with the members and address any dissatisfaction. He said, however, that the MLAs had not made their intentions clear on whether or when they would join another political party.
“So far from them also, they have not been able to be very clear whether they will join today, join tomorrow or not,” he said.
According to Lyngdoh, the MLAs had indicated from time to time that any decision would depend on the circumstances. “So let’s wait for the time only,” he said.
