Cabinet minister and UDP leader Paul Lyngdoh today termed the Voice of People Party (VPP) a district party and the Congress a spent force party.
His remarks come at a time when the fight for the Shillong parliamentary seat is running high with a total of five candidates in the fray for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The UDP which has an alliance with HSPDP under the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) has put up Robertjune Kharjahrin as the candidate.
Lyngdoh claims the UDP is the number one leading regional party in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region.
According to him, UDP has 12 MLAs and has won the maximum number of seats in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills which is one-third of the constituencies in this region.
“At one point in time, seven out of seven constituencies in Jaintia hills were won by the UDP. Now if you compare it, the NPP won only a minuscule amount of seats even in the District Councils. It was UDP that initially had the numbers in KHADC but because of the absence of the 10th Schedule there was a lot of floor crossing leading to NPP today to lead the executive committee in the KHADC,” Lyngdoh said.
Concerning the Shillong parliamentary seat so far considered a Congress bastion, Lyngdoh said the dynamics of politics in India have changed tremendously.
“There’s an aversion towards the BJP which is obvious. The fact that they didn’t put up a candidate in Meghalaya shows that they know that it’s pointless to put up a candidate. Now there’s an aversion towards BJP. Congress is now a spent force. So who will people vote for?” he asked.
He added that VPP is a newcomer in electoral politics and has no political presence except in the East Khasi Hills district.
“Hence, the VPP can’t even call itself a regional party. It is not even a State-wise party. It is a district-wise party. So you understand that we are fighting in an environment where the leading national party (BJP) is not contesting the elections and the NPP has chosen to ally with that party. Meghalaya has always voted against BJP and now Congress is a spent force. VPP has a presence only in East Khasi Hills. So who has better chances? I leave that upon you to analyse,” Lyngdoh said.
