SHILLONG: Even though the KHNAM has ceased to exist following its president Paul Lyngdoh joining the UDP, the former general secretary of the erstwhile party, Pyndapborthiaw Saiborne, has expressed hope that the party would continue to function as a political party and would do well in the 2013 Assembly polls in the State.Stating that the merger of KHNAM with the UDP will not affect the party’s performance in the upcoming elections, Saiborne said, “I am going to contest from Mawlai and KHNAM would perform well as we are a people-friendly party.”
The merger of KHNAM with the UDP in December last upset some senior members of the party, who met Election Commission of India (ECI) officials and submitted a representation for retaining the party.
“The ECI officials have asked us to submit some more information in few weeks’ time to support our stance for retaining the party,” he added, while informing that the matter may take some time to be resolved as the ECI is currently pre-occupied with the election process in five states.
While reiterating that the decision to merge KHNAM with the UDP was an arbitrary decision, he informed that there were very good chances that KHNAM would be retained as a political party.
It may be mentioned that KHNAM was carved out of the KSU with a good number of its former leaders becoming members, including former KSU president Paul Lyngdoh who became the party president.