Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
The effort of the United Democratic Party (UDP) to stitch an alliance sans the National People’s Party (NPP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell through on March 3.
The meeting held at the official residence of Lahkmen Rymbui in Laitumkhrah was attended by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs Mukul Sangma and Charles Pyngrope, Voice of the People Party (VPP) MLAs Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit and Adelbert Nongrum and Congress MLAs Saleng A. Sangma and Ronnie V. Lyngdoh among others.
Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) too was supposedly roped into the alliance and party president, KP Pangniang was present. However, the party’s legislators – Shakliar Warjri (Mawthadraishan) and Methodius Dkhar (Mawshynrut) were absent.
TMC leader Mukul Sangma emerging from the meeting said that the people of the state returned a fractured verdict with no decisive mandate for any political party.
“But if you draw a conclusion from this mandate then it is for a change,” Sangma said.
He said that the state like never before is confronted with unpleasant issues pertaining to irregularities and alleged corruption.
Sangma said that the meeting discussed the need to come together and stand firm in their commitment to ensure that the state is not again subjected to the kind of misrule and unprecedented plundering which has caused irreversible damage to the fiscal health and also attracted the tag of “most corrupt state” in the country.
UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh said that nothing was decided at the meeting and there was no discussion on staking claim to form the government.
TMC state president Charles Pyngrope said that the group will work with every political party except the NPP and BJP.
Later in the evening photographs emerged of the two HSPDP MLAs submitting their letter of support to National People’s Party national president Conrad K Sangma pledging allegiance to the NPP-led alliance.
Meanwhile, the HSPDP in a letter to the NPP national president Conrad K Sangma stated that the party did not authorise the two MLAs to lend support for the formation of the NPP-led government.
“The party has no role in this affair and therefore withdraw our support to your party. Kindly act immediately that the party withdraw support effective from today, the 3rd March 2023 (sic),” the letter stated.
When asked about the HSPDP legislators, and the party alleging that the NPP had hijacked them from the residence of United Democratic Party (UDP) MLA Lahkmen Rymbui on Friday afternoon, Sangma said, “No one hijacked anything. They have met me in an official capacity and they have happily with free hands given the letter (of support) to me and there is nothing like that.”
President of the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) KP Pangniang earlier on Friday sarcastically referred to the absence of the two-party legislators as “missing MLAs”.
He informed that the two HSPDP MLAs were with him in the morning when they went to Rymbui’s residence in Laitumkhrah but after a few hours, they left the premises and ever since had gone missing.
“They told me that they were hungry and going out for lunch. I don’t know where they are. They are missing – please find them,” he said.
Pangniang said that when they tried to contact them on their mobile phones they were switched off.