Regional parties here to stay, says Lanong

SHILLONG: With the Congress expecting to decimate regional parties in the 2018 Assembly polls, UDP leader Bindo Lanong on Sunday said the regional parties will continue to have dominance over politics as it is evident from the states ruled by regional parties in different parts of the country.
In his response to Chief Minister Mukul Sangma’s statement that regional parties would not form the next government in the State in 2018, Lanong said at present, most of the states – like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Delhi – are run by regional parties.        In the North East, Nagaland and Sikkim are ruled by regional parities, he added. “Therefore, I can only say that if the governments under the regional parties are possible, the CM’s statement and that of Lapang and others will be proved wrong in 2018,” Lanong said.
EVM hacking
The UDP leader also said the election will be fair in 2018 compared to 2013.
After the 2013 polls, the UDP had approached the Election Commission of India citing hacking of EVMs.
Lanong reminded that a team of around 12 MPs at the behest of the Ministry of Law and Justice had visited Shillong and met the political parties of the North East to discuss about the functioning of EVMs. The Congress was also part of the meeting, he added.