SHILLONG: Senior politician Rowell Lyngdoh, who quit Congress to join the National People’s Party and lost the recently concluded election from Mawkyrwat constituency, feels his decision to shift parties played an important role in his defeat.
The veteran leader, who contested the election on an NPP ticket, lost to HSPDP’s Reninkton Lyngdoh Tongkhar.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Saturday, Lyngdoh said most people still love and want to remain with the Congress and those who voted for him in the polls were confused about the different party symbols which affected the results.
Stating that he does not regret his decision to join NPP, Lyngdoh said he still loves the Congress but had differences with the party leadership.
Asked if he would rejoin Congress, he replied: “Not immediately. Maybe in future.”
Asserting that his decision to join the NPP was not wrong, he confessed that he could not convince the people about the party’s credentials in just a few months before the polls.
“We need at least a year and I am sure the people would be convinced about our party,” he said.
Lyngoh also slammed the use of money power in his constituency as one of the factors for his loss saying huge money was pumped in in the last few days ahead of the polls. He said the number of young voters in his constituency mismatched his calculation: while he thought it was 23000-24000 it showed an increase to 30000.
Lyngdoh was one of the senior ministers in the previous Congress-led MUA government. He was later dropped from the cabinet and subsequently deserted Congress to join NPP.
