Voice of the People Party (VPP) president and Nongkrem MLA Ardent M Basaiawmoit today said that the battle to wrest power from the currently ruling parties in Meghalaya has just begun.
Basaiawmoit said that the party, which was formed three years back, now had an MP (Ricky AJ Syngkon for Shillong), formed the executive committee on its own in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), has eight MDCs in the JHADC and has four MLAs.
The next state elections are due by the first half of 2028.
Basaiawmoit said that, as president of the party, his job is not only to concentrate on his own constituency but he has to tour the length and breadth of the state to strengthen the VPP.
“If we have to wrest power in 2028 I will have to spend a considerable amount of time outside the constituency,” he said while addressing a gathering at his residence in Nongkrem during the distribution of the Special Rural Works Programme (SRWP) scheme for 2024-25.
Basaiawmoit reminded the gathering that he did not join politics only to serve the people of his constituency but did so for the people of Meghalaya.
As part of the SRWP, popularly known as the ‘MLA scheme’, amounting to Rs 2.5 crore, Basaiawmoit extended financial assistance for building low cost houses, providing assistance to farmers and small scale traders.
Under the SRWP he also extended financial help to schools, a college, a fitness centre and a cremation ground.
