Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
A day after reports that former Ranikor MLA, Martin M Danggo, will quit the National People’s Party (NPP) and joins the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) surfaced, his supporters on January 30 met at the Shillong Club and decided to “force” him to contest from the saffron party.
Pelcy Snaitang, a staunch supporter of Danggo, said that for the last couple of months, the state leaders of the NPP could not resolve the misunderstandings in the party at Ranikor and these still remain with the Assembly polls just round the corner.
“Therefore, as supporters of Danggo we have to listen to the voice of the people. The public are demanding that we leave the NPP and also that the party candidate for the Ranikor seat should also resign,” Snaitang said.
She said she believed that Danggo would listen to his supporters and quit the party to join the BJP.
Snaitang also claimed that all the NPP members from Ranikor constituency have resigned from the party on Monday.
She also alleged that the state president of the National People’s Youth Front (NPYF) besides leaders of the NPP were supporting the United Democratic Party (UDP) legislator Pius Marwein as they did not want Danggo to win from the constituency.
She told reporters that there is absolutely no understanding between the supporters of Danggo and the NPP state leaders.
“Therefore, we have decided to resign from the NPP and join the BJP,” she said.
“We also have proof (of the messages sent by the NPYF state president and other leaders); the state leaders of the NPP said that they will not allow Danggo to win and that this time they will ensure the victory of Pius Marwein,” she said.
“Therefore, as strong supporters of Danggo, we immediately decided to quit the party,” Snaitang added.
However, Danggo, whose candidature was recently announced from Ranikor, is yet to resign from the NPP.
She also said that Khasis, Garos, Hajongs, Bengalis and other communities residing under Ranikor constituency have said that they do not feel comfortable in the NPP and, therefore, they decided to quit the party.
His supporters said that they, in the thousands, came to the state capital in hundreds of vehicles like buses and SUVs as a show of strength.
According to the supporters, they came to Shillong from far off places like Maheshkhola and Borsora.
Later hundreds of his supporters marched from Shillong Club to the BJP’s office to urge the party to admit Danggo.
However, all this appeared scripted with reports indicating Danggo had met North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on January 28 along with party legislator Alexander Laloo Hek.
State BJP president Ernest Mawrie had earlier admitted that the party leaders had met Danggo even after the NPP had announced his candidature.
Earlier, Danggo, who came to Shillong Club for a brief while, told his supporters that he did not have money now.
“I will respect your decision,” Danggo said.
BJP sources informed that he would be formally inducted into the party on February 4.
The Meghalayan during its interaction with his supporters learnt that the leaders of the NPP were trying to sideline Danggo.
According to one of his staunch supporters, Admiral Marak, Chief Minister and NPP chief Conrad Sangma usually refuses to take his calls.
“But since this morning when reports of Danggo joining the BJP surfaced, we have been receiving hundreds of calls,” Marak claimed.
Marak said that the former MLA lost the 2018 by-poll to Pius Marwein of the United Democratic Party since he did not consult them before taking the decision to quit the Congress and contest from the NPP.
COMPLAINT AGAINST MLA
He also said that the present MLA did very little to ameliorate the sufferings of the people of Ranikor.
Others claimed that Marwein has been controlling the export of coal and limestone and was favouring his own people from outside to do business.
Another man who came all the way from Borsora said that Ranikor has very little infrastructure in terms of education.
“After passing their matriculation, the children have to either go to Mawkyrwat or Mawsynram for higher education. Those who can afford come to Shillong,” he said.
Another of his supporters said that basic healthcare facilities in the remote areas are non-existent.
“We have to go to the Ranikor PHC which would render us basic treatment and then refer us to Shillong,” he said.
He also said that it takes them more than 6-7 hours to travel from Ranikor to Shillong, which is around 120 km, due to bad roads.
The supporters also said that the exporters were more helpful than the MLA during the Covid-19 pandemic.