SHILLONG, March 19: State Congress chief and Shillong MP, Vincent H Pala on Tuesday hit back at the Voice of the People Party (VPP), stating that its ideology is akin to BJP’s ideology.
“The way the VPP is going, it seems they are not only team A or team B of BJP but also in line with the ideologies of the saffron party,” Pala said.
According to him, the BJP abuses church leaders and toeing that line, the VPP abuses the “Tymmen Basan” (church elders). He said both parties talk about religion and polarise voters.
Asking the VPP to clarify these matters, Pala said the party is being castigated on social media for its alleged attempts to divert the attention of people.
Pala was responding to the VPP’s charge that the state Congress leadership transformed the grand old party into a B team of the National People’s Party (NPP) and C team of the BJP. The VPP had said the Congress leadership is working for the NPP in Meghalaya.
Slamming the VPP, Pala said the party is yet to grow and get the confidence of people.
“You don’t even know whether Ardent Basaiawmoit is the real candidate or Ricky AJ Syngkon,” the Shillong MP said, adding that the VPP is depending on the image of Basaiawmoit to win the elections.
Stating that Basaiawmoit was always excited before raising any issues in the past such as urban affairs, clean governance etc., Pala said the VPP president never remains consistent with his issues.
“Instead of looking at the Congress, the VPP should first look at their own existence,” he said adding that many people do tend to run away to the ruling side after remaining in the Opposition as they feel incomplete.
Clarifying that he never expelled anyone from the Congress, Pala said the former leaders of the party ran away on their own. Changing of jerseys is a common trend in politics before elections, he said.
The VPP stated the fact that Pala was associated with the NPP was evident from his actions when he had ensured the departure of the then Congress strongman in Garo Hills (Mukul Sangma) along with his associates from the party. The VPP said this effectively removed the only stumbling block for the NPP.
Pala even ensured that all the remaining Congress MLAs get suspended and leave the party to make things easier for the NPP, the VPP had claimed.
“It is an acknowledged fact that the NPP in Meghalaya could have survived and succeeded only if the Congress was weakened. This objective was successfully met by his (Pala’s) treacherous actions,” the VPP had stated.
“His commitment to the task of making the NPP blossom further was evident by the steps he took to ensure that the INDIA alliance failed in Meghalaya. Therefore, it is safe to read and conclude that the current Congress leadership in Meghalaya has transformed the party into a B team of the NPP and therefore, indirectly, a C team of the BJP,” the VPP had said.
