Lok Sabha polls: No party is pushover, says Jemino

SHILLONG, April 21: United Democratic Party general secretary, Jemino Mawthoh on Sunday said analysing the performances of the political parties in the Lok Sabha elections on April 19 is a complex task.
He attributed the complexity or unpredictability to the shifting of allegiance of the leaders of different political parties leading to a “kind of imbalance in the way things should be moving”.
Mawthoh said the disintegration of Congress with many leaders joining the Trinamool Congress is an indication that the Congress may not do as well as it did in the Shillong seat in 2019.
But the support incumbent Congress MP Vincent H Pala has enjoyed over the last 15 years cannot be discounted, he added.
“The NPP is strong in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills but the Regional Democratic Alliance comprising the UDP and HSPDP is stronger as the two parties have 14 MLAs in this region and 13-14 MDCs in both the Khasi and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Councils,” he said.
Mawthoh said the RDA has strong support at the grassroots level but the NPP’s vote share in the 2023 Assembly elections pointed to an almost equal hold.
The party had, earlier, said that regional parties have failed to win the Shillong seat since 2009 due to lack of unity.