SHILLONG, Sep 21: The regional parties in the state believe they have a bright future ahead considering the trend in other parts of the country.
“If the TMC (Trinamool Congress) could fare well in West Bengal, why not the regional parties here? The people of the state will definitely be looking at the regional parties as an alternative in the 2023 Assembly elections,” United Democratic Party (UDP) working president, Paul Lyngdoh told The Shillong Times on Tuesday.
According to him, the regional parties have an ambitious plan to regain their significance, something that had been missing for the last 20 years and which compelled them to align with one national party or the other as minor partners.
“A major revamp is called for,” Lyngdoh said.
Echoing similar views, People’s Democratic Front (PDF) president, Banteidor Lyngdoh claimed the people of the state have got fed up with the national parties as they need to depend on their central leadership even to resolve a trivial issue.
“We all have seen that the Congress had to wait for nearly a year to get its new state president since everything is remote-controlled from Delhi. We don’t need to wait for party high command if we have to change our president,” Lyngdoh said.
He said the regional parties have great prospects as people have seen how the national parties failed to provide good governance. “The Congress has ruled the state for most part but failed to live up to people’s expectations,” Lyngdoh said.
He is hopeful the people will embrace the regional parties as in West Bengal. If they get a chance in 2023, they can prove they can run the government better, he said. Lyngdoh, who is also a Minister, said the state’s coalition government is trying its best to deliver despite several challenges. He said its efforts to ensure all-round development was affected by the pandemic and the deteriorating law and order problem due to the demand for the implementation of Inner Line Permit.
“Despite this, the government has managed to ensure that the implementation of various important programmes is not affected,” he said.
Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) chief, KP Pangniang is confident the regional parties will do better in the polls given the trend in other parts of the country. He claimed people have lost their faith in a national party like the Congress for alleged misgovernance.
“Even if we fail to get absolute majority, I can confidently say that there will be no government without the support of the regional parties even in 2023. Coalition politics is here to stay,” Pangniang said.
While questions are being raised against the regional parties, the HSPDP president said he would like to ask what the Congress has done after ruling the state for so many years.
“The interstate boundary dispute remains unresolved till now. There are many other issues which have remained unresolved for long,” he pointed out.
