By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 17: Leader of Opposition, Ronnie V Lyngdoh on Sunday predicted that the Voice of the People Party (VPP) would meet the same fate as the KHNAM, PDF, and PDM.
“I do not think that this wave in favour of the VPP is going to last. If we look at the history of the political parties formed in the state, then I foresee a political journey that is not going to last long,” he said when asked about the possibility of the VPP sweeping the KHADC and JHADC polls apart from winning the Shillong Lok Sabha seat.
The VPP, he said, emerged like a storm and would disappear in the same manner as the KHNAM, PDF, and PDM did.
Lyngdoh said the people of the state would vote for a party like Congress with a national presence.
He pointed out that Meghalaya sends only three MPs – two to the Lok Sabha and one to the Rajya Sabha.
“People have realized that sending an MP from a national party would be better for the state. At Congress, we have an advantage as we have several other MPs who can support our cause,” he said on Sunday.
Lyngdoh said Congress gave the Sixth Schedule to the people of the state for the protection of land, customs, and ethnic identity.
He said his party is yet to decide on the candidate for the Tura parliamentary seat.
“We have a process. (The candidature of) Shillong MP Vincent H Pala is more or less confirmed but even he will have to follow the process,” he said.
Lyngdoh said the party is against the move of the BJP-led NDA to rename the nation, go for “one nation, one election” and introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country.
“Why is the BJP doing this with only seven to eight months left for the Lok Sabha elections? This clearly implies that it is an election gimmick to fool the people of the country because the BJP has done nothing in the last nine-and-a-half years,” he said.
On the UCC, he said the Centre has sought the views of thousands of stakeholders.
“But will it be able to accommodate all the views and suggestions and come up with a comprehensive policy? It is not only going to affect the minorities but also the Hindus,” he said.
Lyngdoh, however, agreed with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s statement that the UCC is still a concept. “We have no idea about how it will be implemented as there is no draft yet,” he said.
He felt the UCC was unnecessary when the people of the country have coexisted for 75 years now.
He further said the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal would defeat cooperative federalism.
“We need to understand that India is a union of states and such a move is a step toward dictatorship,” Lyngdoh said.
“I think this (one election) is one of the reasons why the people of India are going to reject the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” he said, also underlining the fallacy of the reported move to rename India as Bharat.
“The name Bharat is already in the Constitution. Is the BJP trying to rename the country because it is unnerved by INDIA, the acronym of the opposition alliance? This shows the party is scared of losing the elections,” Lyngdoh said.
