SHILLONG:
Trinamool Congress candidate (TMC) from Pynursla Edmund Khongngai has said that his initial choice was to join the United Democratic Party (UDP), but that did not work out with the party’s leadership.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme, he said, “Initially, there were talks with a regional party, and many of my friends requested me to choose a regional party, so we had talks with UDP. We, however, found that the UDP Pynursla circle has no authority and decisions have to be made by the UDP high command. The arrangements led nowhere.”
It may be noted that UDP named Anthony Kongwang as its candidate from Pynursla in the first list. Kongwang was earlier a member of the National People’s Party (NPP) but resigned in September last year.
Edmund, however, has no regret in joining the TMC as he pointed out that in five years the regional parties such as the UDP, the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), People’s Democratic Front (PDF) besides National People’s Party (NPP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are all part of the NPP-led coalition, Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA).
He said, “In these 51 years, the regional parties are not united, PDF was floated in 2017 and VPP (Voice of the People Party) in 2022. As for Congress, it is dead and there are no leaders in the party at the state or national level.”
Khongngai seems unfazed even as he is being pitched against four-time MLA from Pynursla and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, and said that he is well prepared for the upcoming elections as he has been campaigning for nearly a year.
He said, “I know I am at a good age to contest elections. As of now, I am 30.”
Khongngai claimed that the public in Pynursla requested him to join politics and he hopes to win the election as the people aspire for change.
“There is no change in Pynursla constituency despite him (Tynsong) being elected for 20 years and also holding the minister’s posts. Pynursla is the most backward constituency as we do not even have a college, sports complex and this is what led him to enter politics,” he said.
Having had a background in social organisation, he claimed that there are many issues faced by the people of Pynursla such as those in the border areas, border fencing, and border haat, health infrastructure.
“He (Tynsong) does not visit the border area except in his election campaign. In these four years, we never saw any representative visit the border areas,” he said.
Criticising Tynsong, he said, “We have a representative who has no connections with the poor or pays any heed to them. We know very well that he has close ties with contractors, exporters, businessmen and other high-ups.”