SHILLONG:
The ruling National People’s Party (NPP) has decided to contest both Shillong and Tura parliamentary seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to be held next year.
Informing this on September 1, lone Rajya Sabha MP and NPP state president WR Kharlukhi said that his party this time is not keen to support the idea of putting up a common candidate for Shillong parliamentary seat.
“We are going to put up candidates (for both seats) and we hope we will win the elections,” he told reporters.
Tura parliamentary seat is currently represented by NPP MP Agatha A Sangma and Shillong by Congress leader Vincent H Pala.
Kharlukhi however said that the party is yet to decide on the candidate for the Shillong parliamentary seat.
“Before we used to have a combined candidate with UDP and NPP but the result is the same. This time we say let us have our own candidate so that we will try and win this seat also. Why should we have only one Lok Sabha MP, why not two Lok Sabha MPs,” he added.
If the party will give a ticket to BJP spokesperson and former Mawsynram legislator Himalaya Shangpliang, who has decided to join the NPP very soon, Kharlukhi however said, “Let us see. I have only seen it (his desire to join NPP) in the news so when it comes officially then we will decide.”
When pointed out that the NPP has only few MLAs in the Khasi-Jaintia Hill regions, the state president however said that the NPP has got the largest vote share in the 2023 Assembly elections.
“If we go by that we are winning the seat (Shillong)…more than 3 lakh voters casted their vote on behalf of NPP. That matters,” he said while adding anti-incumbency is there but it is pro-incumbency for the NPP in the result and “we have proved it”.
On the border issue, the Rajya Sabha MP said that the MDA government is trying its level best to solve the border issue.
“…because it is not now only, it has been there for almost when the Meghalaya State itself was created, it was there so it has to be solved so that the people in the border should live peacefully. That is why they are having these regional committees so that they will sit and find out a solution,” he said.
According to him, if Arunachal Pradesh can solve the boundary dispute, why not Meghalaya.
“Meghalaya should also be solved. We are trying to solve this issue so that our people can live in peace in the border areas,” he added.