SHILLONG: In a scathing attack on the state government, UDP leader Paul Lyngdoh has said Mukul Sangma’s government is cleverly trying to manipulate public opinion by deflecting attention from its failures and harping on the “fear of Hindutva”.
Speaking to the media here on Saturday, he said the 2018 Assembly polls will be the “last battle” for the ruling Congress and regional forces comprising the UPD, HSPDP and GNC will comfortably cross the halfway mark in the 60-member Assembly.
Lyngdoh, a two-time legislator from West Shillong, asserted that, as correctly pointed out by the chief minister recently, the BJP will not win even two seats in the upcoming elections.
“Now what is more dangerous – the return to power of a party that has not performed in the past five years despite having 40 MLAs or the BJP not crossing the two-seat mark? It is easy to see that the Congress is attempting to deflect attention from real issues,” he said.
On its part, the Congress has persistently accused the BJP of having ties with both the UDP and NPP. Also, it had earlier lambasted the BJP for not fielding a candidate in West Shillong as a covert way of supporting the UDP.
Maintaining that the “Trojan horse” jibe lacks substance, Lyngdoh said the alliance formed with the Hill State People Democratic Party (HSPDP) and Garo National Council (GNC) will take over the reins of government after March 3.
“If we were not confident, if we had wanted to widen our circle of friends, we would have struck deals with the NPP, NCP and the BJP,” the UDP working president said.
The Congress, he opined, cannot come to power through the main door and is trying to storm to power by resorting to backdoor tactics like harping on “fear of Hindutva”.
Asked which national party the regional alliance would prefer to work with, Lyngdoh said the regional alliance does not need to work either the Congress or the BJP given the fact that it will sail to power quite comfortably.
“Our poll arithmetic will be vindicated and we are confident of forming the next government without support from either the Congress or the BJP,” he maintained.
Stating that the BJP will come a cropper in the Assembly polls, the UDP leader said the biggest beneficiary would be the regional parties.
Meanwhile, Lyngdoh informed that the UDP will release its election manifesto – likely to be a comprehensive document – on Monday.
