SHILLONG, March 18: The debutant political party, Voice of the People Party (VPP) is on a mission to avenge regional parties’ “betrayal”.
It envisions capturing power on its own five years hence.
VPP president, Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit on Saturday proclaimed that the party had set its goal to secure absolute majority and form the government on its own in 2028 deriding “betrayal” of other regional parties in becoming part of MDA 2.0.
“The party has managed to provide the people with a ray of hope. The people are looking at a party as an alternative voice since the existing regional parties have failed them,” Basaiawmoit said while addressing ‘Gratitude Rally’ organised by the party at Polo Ground here.
According to him, the regional parties got the opportunity to lead the government this time round.
“We could not form the government since we were betrayed by the regional parties. Therefore, we decided to be in the opposition,” he said.
Asserting that they are not here for personal gains, he said that the party will not be able to achieve its goal of forming the government on its own in 2028 by taking any wrong decisions.
“I want to assure that we will not betray the faith that the people have reposed on the party,” he said.
Basaiawmoit said that many had predicted that the party will be winning none or one seat in the recently concluded Assembly polls.
“But the performance of the party has surprised many of its political opponents, especially after it had managed to win four seats.” Even the NPP admitted that the party candidates have spoiled its chances in many of the constituencies, he claimed.
According to him, the NPP would have ruled on its own for the next five years if not for the VPP.
Meanwhile, the newbie is working overtime as preparation for forthcoming district council elections. He claimed that many prospective candidates have approached for party tickets for polls in both the KHADC and JHADC.
The VPP president felt that a strong wave in favour of the party has prompted people from other parties to approach them for ticket.
“There are constituencies where over 20 people have requested for party ticket. This is because of the strong VPP wave that is going on (in the region),” he said.
Basaiawmoit further added, “Our focus will be to strengthen the organisation of the party at the grassroots level in the coming months. We will discuss about about the elections at an appropriate time,” he said.
On the occasion, the party also felicitated the composer and singer of the party’s election campaign song, Kongdeng Kongnah Ha U Prah. A sizeable number of supporters braved a smart shower to attend the rally.
