SHILLONG:
The National People’s Party (NPP) has said that for the last one year or so, people of Meghalaya had been experiencing a wave of social media campaigns driven by political analysts from other states.
According to the party, Facebook profiles are made to roast ruling political party leaders, Meghalaya’s city and village walls are filled with digital paintings of aspiring political leaders or opposition leaders.
The NPP also said that parties like the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) are running extensive political campaigns and also bring in large crowds from Assam and bombard social media with caricatures of their opponent political leaders.
The party also alleged that currently, the poll campaign seems to be completely run by IPAC.
“Charles Pyngrope six months back, seemingly unhappy with IPAC’s stand on Congress or AITC at national level, even commented that IPAC cannot choose Congress as it has already started working for TMC,” the NPP said.
The NPP said that the statement was a testimony to Meghalaya TMC’s dependency on IPAC and its political warriors.
The party stated that this dependency seems to prove very costly for TMC.
“These analysts have not taken into consideration the political culture of Meghalaya. They either are not aware or intend to disrupt the culture and create its niche,” the NPP stated.
The NPP also stated that the election campaign process in Meghalaya has always been very sober.
According to the party, huddles by a fireplace with the campaigner explaining their points was a common way to carry out the event, but the decibel has increased this year.
East Shillong NPP candidate Ampareen Lyngdoh said, “Ours is a beautiful state with people living peacefully rather than taking part in distasteful and gross misrepresentation of opposition political party leaders.”
According to Lyngdoh, Meghalaya has never had poll violence and its streets and walls were never discoloured with permanent paintings of political campaigns.
“A few days ago, a friend of mine forwarded me a creative that was posted on social media by certain political strategists, that painted our chief minister and his spouse in an extremely distasteful manner,” she said.
According to her, this kind of propaganda goes beyond politics and does not align with the state’s culture.
“Yet this is not a surprise to me as AITC’s leader recently posted a joke on the Khasi attire on his social media platforms that belittled the prime minister,” she said.
According to Lyngdoh, this behaviour signifies a lack of integrity and respect