SHILLONG: Laitumkhrah MDC, Antonio War, who had contested the Assembly polls on a BJP ticket, formally joined the UDP on Saturday at a function organised by the party.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, War said he wanted to join the UDP since 2012-13 and contested the Assembly elections in 2018 only to gain experience.
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 opinion 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 has percolated down to the grassroots and was in existence since the days of the All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC).
Informing that Syiem had 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.”
Having contested against seasoned politician and UDP leader, Bindo Lanong, War said, “We have never taken it politically. He is a senior politician in the state and he was very encouraging even if we were rivals.”
Having joined the UDP, he said, “Let the sense of regionalism arise in the people for there is a need to stand for the rights of the people.”
Meanwhile, speaking at the function, working president of the UDP, Paul Lyngdoh stressed the need to reinvent, reorganise and strengthen the regional force and added that joining of War is a step towards that direction.