SHILLONG: The UDP is on a mission to erase the ‘Khasi party’ propaganda against it spread by the opponents in Garo Hills for the last few years which, according to the party leadership, had dented its image.
Speaking at the general meeting of the party for the Garo Hills sector held on Saturday at Williamnagar Playground in the presence of party functionaries and workers from Garo Hills, Roy criticized the divisive aspersions cast on the party and reminded the gathering that Capt.WA Sangma, Modi Marak, Milton Sangma were Garo leaders who led the regional parties APHLC, HPU whose legacy the UDP has inherited.
According to Roy, it was out of compulsion that Capt. Sangma affected the dissolution of APHLC.
Roy said that it was the circumstances dictated upon him by late Indira Gandhi that compelled him to go for dissolution, “as the fledgling state stood to lose developmental funds, if he had opposed the move”.
When contacted on Sunday to get details on the divisive propaganda spread against the party, Roy said that UDP suffered badly in the last few elections as the opponents had spread in Garo Hills that UDP was a Khasi party.
“In the past, the people of Garo Hills had accepted UDP, but for the last few years, the false propaganda has affected the performance of the party”, Roy said
The UDP could not win a single seat in the 2013 Assembly polls and in last year’s GHADC polls.
The UDP leader said that during the Williamnagar meeting, the party drove home the point that UDP is a state party.
“UDP is a state party and we are hopeful that all sections of people will accept the party”, he added.
He recalled the days when Garo Hills elected 11 HPU MLAs and found it to be a strong possibility in 2018 in Garo Hills.
“With the change of guard at the Centre, the Congress has become a wingless bird and it is only a question of time that the internal friction within will bring about the inevitable”, Roy pointed out.
Earlier, addressing the gathering, working president of UDP Paul Lyngdoh termed the language barrier between the major tribes of the state as a casualty of governance.
“Having to rely on English and Hindi as a medium to communicate after 40 years of statehood, is indicative enough of the present sorry state of affairs”, Lyngdoh said.
He said the days of Congress misrule are numbered and that is why the UDP has to be prepared as it is the only viable alternative.
General Secretary of the party Metbah Lyngdoh asked the people to take serious note of the recent and ongoing political changes which if harnessed and ably applied, will awaken the public to the reality of Congress governance and in turn will help the party regain it’s space in Garo Hills.
Vice President of the party, Allantry Franklin Dkhar said that there is a need to sensitize the electorates to replicate the wisdom of the Delhi electorates who had rejected both Congress and BJP.
He urged the gathering to drive home the recent revelation of the Chief Minister, that the Congress is bereft of leaders to replace him, while UDP has no dearth of leaders who are capable of taking the state onto the right path, to ensure a brighter future for coming generations.
Former Minister and UDP Chief Adviser BG Momin chaired the meeting.
