SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Minister and NPP leader Prestone Tynsong said on Tuesday that as per the agreement before the formation of the MDA government, UDP was allotted three ministers and there is no more quota for another legislator to be accommodated in the ministry.
After the win of UDP Ranikor candidate Pius Marwein, senior party leader Bindo Lanong suggested that Marwein should be accommodated in the ministry.
However, speaking to reporters, Tynsong said, “There is no more vacancy as the agreement was only for three ministers. If the UDP wants, the party can take a decision to adjust among themselves.”
An NPP leader said besides providing three Cabinet berths to UDP, the post of Speaker was also allotted to it.
MDA to complete full term
Tynsong ruled out any differences with UDP over the setback to NPP candidate MM Danggo in the by-poll.
“In fact, the number of MDA partners has increased. We have to accept and respect the mandate of people. Congress should be in a state of shock and not the NPP,” Tynsong said.
To a question, he said the party will carry out a postmortem of the by-poll to understand what led to Danggo’s defeat.
“We don’t know the reason for the defeat of our candidate. After the polling on August 23, I collected information from Danggo and party leaders for polling station wise calculation and they said it is still manageable. We hoped that Danggo will win for the sixth time too, but unfortunately, the outcome was reverse,” Tynsong said.
To a question, the NPP leader said BJP leaders AL Hek and Sanbor Shullai had announced the party’s support to NPP candidate in Ranikor though a local leader switched allegiance.
No defection
Tynsong said Danggo cannot be called a defector as he resigned from the party and as MLA before joining NPP.
“The question of defection should be guided by the Constitution. If Danggo had defected, he would have been disqualified,” he said.
Tynsong wanted to know if Danggo is a defector “what about the person who contests two seats”.
“Contesting two seats is not fair. If you win both, you will have to give up one and then there will be by-poll to the vacant seat,” he added.
