Shillong, Mar 27: UDP leader and cabinet minister Paul Lyngdoh has said the party is not a member of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
“No, we are not in NEDA. NEDA has not met in a very long time, I don’t even know whether it is still in existence or not,” Lyngdoh told reporters on Wednesday.
He said there is no question of UDP being part of NEDA.
“As part of our manifesto, there is an emphasis on our opposition to hindutva as an ideology. We have also advocated that funding for Christian missionaries from overseas sources should be allowed. We have also spoken against the atrocities committed against Christians throughout India. So that’s our stand.”
Lyngdoh said the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) has a better chance to win the Shillong parliamentary seat.
According to Lyngdoh, Shillong constituency used to be a Congress bastion but the dynamics of politics in India have changed tremendously and that will be a boon for a party like UDP and an alliance like RDA.
“This is because on the one hand, there is an aversion towards the BJP, which is obvious. The fact that they didn’t put up candidates in Meghalaya shows that they know that there is no point in them putting up candidates. Now, there is an aversion towards the BJP and the Congress is a spent force so where will people vote?”
He said the VPP is a newcomer in electoral politics and it doesn’t have any presence except in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.
“In one district out of twelve districts of Meghalaya, this party (VPP) has a presence, so it can’t even call itself a regional party, it’s not even a statewide party, it’s a district wise party,”Lyngdoh said.
“So you understand the ramification of that statement, we are fighting in an era and an environment where leading national party is not contesting the elections, NPP has chosen to ally with that party, Meghalaya has always voted against BJP, Congress is a spent force and VPP has a presence only in East Khasi Hills district, now, whose chances of winning are bit brighter, it is for you to do the analysis.”
He said the UDP is number one leading party in the Khasi-Jaintia sector.
“The fact that we have 12 MLAs and have won the maximum number of constituencies as one-third of the constituencies in the Khasi-Jaintia sector were won by the UDP. At one point of time 7 out of 7 constituencies of Jaintia Hills were won by the UDP. Now, if you compare that to the NPP, the NPP only won a very minuscule number of seats and that apart, even in the ADCs, it was the UDP that initially had the number but because of the absence of the Tenth Schedule, there were a lot of floor crossing leading to NPP today leading the EC in the KHADC”, Lyngdoh added.
