Stability reason to support Conrad as leader: UDP chief

SHILLONG: Stability is the factor that led the UDP to opt for NPP leader Conrad Sangma as the chief minister.
UDP president and Assembly Speaker Donkupar Roy said on Wednesday that the party was not against NPP leader Prestone Tynsong becoming the chief minister.
“At the moment of forming the government, what we looked at was stability and hence we preferred Conrad,” he told The Shillong Times.
According to Roy, if the NPP leadership can assure stability and development, there will not be any problem for UDP to accept Tynsong as the chief minister.
He said in the past, Meghalaya had witnessed instability and this should not be allowed to continue.
Allantry Dkhar, vice-president of UDP, said the party had looked at the winners as NPP had 11 legislators from Garo Hills and eight from Khasi Hills.
“We found that to provide a stable coalition, Conrad Sangma should be the leader as the NPP had maximum number of legislators from Garo Hills,” the UDP leader said.
Dkhar also said the UDP found it amusing to know that “there are certain sections planting differences to create confusion and this is a sorry scenario as pursuing points of divisions is not in the interest of the coalition”.
RDA intact
Roy said that despite HSPDP president Ardent Basaiawmoit having differences, the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) comprising UDP and HSPDP is intact.
“The legislators of both UDP and HSPDP under the banner RDA are intact and there is no change in our commitment to MDA,” Roy said.