Shillong, May 8: The opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) is not serious about the reservation policy but is merely playing politics, Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar said today.
The VPP had pushed strongly for a review of the policy but the expert committee constituted by the state government did not propose any major alterations to the 54-year quota system. And when the government held an all-party meeting on Wednesday the VPP chose not to attend, saying that the timing was not conducive.
Dhar said that the purpose of the meeting was to invite all the political parties to share their ideas and come to a unanimous decision on the matter. He also described the VPP’s absence as “unfortunate”.
Meanwhile, he did admit that his National People’s Party (NPP) will have to work hard to wrest the Shillong Lok Sabha seat from the VPP at the upcoming by-election.
The VPP swept to an absolute majority in the 2024 general election, with the NPP coming third behind the Congress Party. The death of the incumbent MP, Ricky AJ Syngkon in February, has necessitated a by-election.
Like Syngkon before him, the VPP’s new pick, Batskhem Myrboh, is also an academic. The NPP yesterday decided yesterday that two can play at that game and picked a professor of its own, DR L Nonglait.
Dhar was of the opinion that the NPP will not suffer from anti-incumbency as Nonglait is a fresh face in politics. The state government, which the NPP leads, has done a lot of developmental work in Meghalaya and the party will ask the people’s support based on that, he added.
The Deputy CM also predicted that the NPP will come back to power in 2028. It already holds an absolute majority in the Assembly, with 33 MLAs in the house of 60 but Dhar said that it still places emphasis on alliances as it continues to work with the United Democratic Party and Bharatiya Janata Party, among others.
