SHILLONG: The Congress will be the ‘common target’ of the regional parties in the upcoming District Council and Lok Sabha polls.
With the ILP issue yet to be resolved by the Congress-led MUA II coalition, the matter is likely to dominate the election agenda of the Opposition parties.
When contacted, UDP working president Paul Lyngdoh said, “ILP is not the only agenda which will be highlighted during the campaigns.”
“We are yet to work out the details of our manifesto for the elections. Failure of the Government to address many vital issues will be the part of our poll campaign,” Lyngdoh said, while pointing out that there are many major issues confronting the State.
“The people have given the largest ever mandate to the Congress with 29 seats and with this kind of numbers and the support of the independents we expected much more from the Government, but in vain,” Lyngdoh said.
The UDP leader said that the Government has failed to address many relevant issues including the law and order situation in the State.
Another UDP working president, Bindo M Lanong, indicated that ILP will be one of the issues that will dominate the campaigns in the run up to the district council elections.
“I hope ILP will be one of the issues and this might even be the top agenda of the party depending on the situation,” Lanong said.
He also hoped that the UDP and like-minded parties will form the executive committees in the district councils of Khasi and Jaintia Hills.
According to Paul Lyngdoh, the UDP will try to minimize the scope for internal fight between the regional parties aimed at amplifying the space for convergence for the elections.
On the Lok Sabha polls, Lyngdoh said that consultations are on with other like-minded parties.
“We have had a couple of sittings and we expect a situation where there will be agreement on a single candidate from the non-Congress parties to take on the Congress in both the Shillong and Tura seats.”
Lyngdoh also stated that the UDP is prepared for the Lok Sabha polls and the mood in the entire country is against the Congress.
