Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
United Democratic Party (UDP) youth wing president Kyrmen Shylla has defended Home Minister and UDP MLA Lahkmen Rymbui after demand for his resignation were made following the Mukroh firing, asserting the shooting took the government by surprise.
He was responding to a comment on working president of UDP Paul Lyngdoh who demanded the resignation of Rymbui following the November 22 firing.
“I feel it is not Bah Lahkmen’s mistake and it is also not the fault of our police. The incident was a shock for all and it was unpredicted,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a programme.
Asked if there is division in the UDP, Shylla brushed aside rumours of differences in the party and said that the party remains united.
“He (Lyngdoh) has his own perspective of things. The party is united and are like-minded. We believe that in the 2023 elections, we will win more seats and make sure that the party will lead the government,” he said.
Commenting on UDP’s hopes of leading the government in 2023 even though regional parties have seen a declining trend as per the recent elections, Shylla said that the party will contest in more than 30 seats and urged voters to give regional parties a chance.
“If the people do not have trust in regional parties, we will go nowhere. The victory of the party and the candidate depends on the electorate and I believe that they will understand regionalism,” he said, adding that he still has faith in voters.
As far as pre-poll alliances are concerned, Shylla said the party is currently working alone and on a personal note feels that other regional parties should come together to serve the public.
“At a time when we have to form the government, we do want all the regional parties to be together because in the end, we may have different ideologies but our goal is to serve the public,” he said.
It may be mentioned that the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) was formed as a pre-poll pact between the UDP, Hills State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and Garo National Council (GNC) in the year 2017 before the Assembly elections of 2018.
The Khliehriat MLA is also confident on a second term stating that the people of the constituency still love and have faith in him.
The UDP will come out with its first list of candidates on December 6.