Shillong, Aug 18: The United Democratic Party (UDP) and Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) will sit to decide on whether they will continue to remain in alliance with each other after the by-election for the Shillong Lok Sabha seat is held.
The UDP and HSPDP are members of the wider Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) but also, together, make up the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA).
This grouping is meant to strengthen the two Meghalaya-centric parties but its efficacy is questionable at best as they seem to disagree with each other as often as they find common ground.
A case in point is the upcoming by-election, where the UDP has decided to field the lawyer VGK Kynta. The HSPDP has decided not to put forward its own candidate but will not support the UDP’s either.
On the teetering alliance, senior UDP figure Titosstarwell Chyne today said that the two sides will meet after the by-election to decide where the RDA stands.
“We will sit across the table and sort out if there is any misunderstanding, or we will decide whether we will continue or discontinue. That will be taken up after the by-election,” he said.
Chyne also addressed persistent rumours that there is a fissure developing within the UDP itself. The Sohra MDC said the party’s MLAs and supporters remain united, while acknowledging differences of opinion within the party.
“Right now, we do not have any division. We are all united. All the MLAs are united. All the party supporters are united,” Chyne said.
He likened occasional differences within the party to misunderstandings that can arise in a large family, maintaining that such differences should not be construed as a division within the UDP.
On the UDP’s preparations for the Lok Sabha by-election, the date of which has yet to be announced, Chyne said the delay in announcing the election date had resulted in a temporary slowdown in the party’s campaign. The Shillong seat became vacant in February with the sudden death of the sitting MP Ricky AJ Syngkon of the Voice of the People Party (VPP). The vacancy, under normal circumstances, should have been filled within six months but the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Meghalaya has delayed the procedure.
The UDP is not standing idle, however, and has scheduled several meetings this month, including a central executive committee meeting and a meeting in East Jaintia Hills on August 29.
Chyne said the party was currently focusing its outreach on party workers and supporters rather than holding public meetings in markets or open spaces.
“We will go full out once the election [date] is announced,” he said.
