SHILLONG: Laitumkhrah MDC, Antonio War who had contested the Assembly polls on a BJP ticket, formally joined the United Democratic Party (UDP) on Saturday at a function organised by the UDP.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, War said that he wanted to join the UDP since 2012-13 and contested the Assembly 2018 elections only to acquire practice.
Asked if joining the UDP was an opportunistic move, he said, “If I take politics to be a personal business, then may be it can be termed as an opportunistic move.”
According to him, he took the opinions of his supporters before joining the party.
Commenting on the BJP, War said, “Looking at the Assembly elections, let alone the Council elections, it will take many years for the people to accept the BJP.”
Again, he pointed out to the introduction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which he found it hard to accept.
Being a close associate of People’s Democratic Front (PDF) chairman PN Syiem, he was asked on why he chose UDP over PDF to which War said UDP had percolated down to the grassroots and was in existence since the days of the All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) party.
Informing that Syiem has requested him to join the party, War said, “We have to be practical about the ground reality in the constituency. As a leader, I have to go with what the constituents choose and it is not my individual decision.”