By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 17: The nominated MDC in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), Bindo Mathew Lanong on Monday said he has decided to support the group led by Chief Executive Member (CEM), Pyniaid Sing Syiem.
Lanong decided after the United Democratic Party (UDP) leadership did not respond to his letter expressing his keenness to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from Shillong seat.
At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of joining the National People’s Party (NPP) since he is “a free man” now.
“I have no plan of joining any party immediately since I want to enjoy this moment of being independent. But I will be officially submitting my letter of support to the Executive Committee led by the NPP on Tuesday,” Lanong told reporters.
The veteran MDC said he decided to appeal to the party leadership for a new beginning after he decided to contest as an independent candidate from the Nongkrem constituency against the party’s official candidate in the Assembly polls held earlier this year.
“I wrote to both the party president and general secretary in April expressing my keenness to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
Lanong said he wrote another letter in June as a reminder of the letter submitted two months before.
“There was no response to both the letters. I was compelled to write to the party leadership in August with the request to treat my application for the party ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as withdrawn,” he said.
He said such treatment by the UDP came as a surprise since the party president, Metbah Lyngdoh, told the media that he (Lanong) is still a member of the UDP.
What convinced him that the party no longer wanted him was when he was not invited to the UDP’s General Council meeting, Lanong said.
Pointing out that newcomers currently form the majority in the UDP, he said he never switched over to any party since he joined active politics and was elected as an MDC in 1972.
“I was part of the APHLC, Hill People’s Union, and finally when it became the UDP in 1997. The party has changed its name but I continue to remain with it,” he said.
He disagreed that his decision to support the NPP-led EC was tantamount to betraying the UDP, which allowed him to remain as a nominated MDC.
“I have been nominated MDC on the recommendations made by the former president of the UDP, the late Donkupar Roy,” Lanong said.
He also disagreed that his decision to contest against UDP candidate Lambor Malngiang in the Assembly polls fell in the category of anti-party activities.
“The UDP leadership is engaged in anti-party activities since it has given the ticket to someone who is not a member of the party,” Lanong said.