By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 27: In an attempt to invigorate regional forces ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections in Meghalaya, the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) has decided to take the lead in bringing all regional parties under one banner.
The resolution was taken during the party’s general council meeting here on Monday.
HSPDP president, KP Pangniang said that the party has resolved that it is all-important to unite the regional forces ahead of the 2023 elections.
“At present, only the UDP and HSPDP are part of the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA). But we are committed to persuade the PDF and KHNAM to be part of the Alliance. It is high time for the regional forces to work together in the best interest of the people of the state,” Pangniang said.
Maintaining that they can resolve issues afflicting the people of the state with one strong voice, he said that there are possibilities that they might even be able to lead the government after the Assembly polls if the regional forces manage to come to some kind of an agreement.
“It will be difficult to say if the PDF and KHNAM will be willing to work together. But we will try to break the ice by attempting to bring all the regional forces together,” the HSPDP president said. He, however, clarified that they are not talking about having a pre-poll alliance as of now. “The UDP and HSPDP have already shown the way. Now, we hope that the other regional forces will respond to our call,” Pangniang said.
HSPDP vice president, Renikton L Tongkhar, on the other hand, said that the question of seat-sharing among regional parties does not arise in the first place.
“We can formulate a strategy by taking into the account the situation constituency-wise. We can set up one candidate in some constituencies, depending on the situation. We can all contest in some constituencies if it can help us win the elections,” Tongkhar said.
An upbeat Tongkhar also said that the regional forces, if united, can perform well in the 2023 polls.
“What is important is for the regional forces to work together. I am confident that we can do well if all the regional forces are united,” he maintained.
Referring to the 2018 Assembly elections, Tongkhar said the fruit of unity was already witnessed during that time. “We had managed to win from Sohiong and Mawkyrwat due to the understanding we had with the UDP. We hope that we will have better cooperation in 2023,” he said.
Meanwhile, party MDC, Martle N Mukhim, who has been elected as the HSPDP vice president, said that they have already made an appeal to the regional parties to come together with an objective to build better cooperation and coordination.
“We have entrusted the central executive committee to work out on the modalities on how they can bring the regional forces under one common platform,” Mukhim said.
He also made it clear that they are not talking about any merger at the moment. “We wanted to have a better partnership and develop a spirit of unity among the regional forces,” he said.