SHILLONG, Feb 15: VPP’s quest for power in KHADC appears to have been rattled by a series of orchestrated NPP charges and internal rumblings.
On Friday, VPP supremo Ardent M Basaiawmoit was embarrassed when the NPP dug up his disastrous move for patriliny instead of matriliny to be adopted by the Khasis.
On Saturday again, party’s rebel MLA Adelbert Nongrum fired a damning salvo alleging nepotism and favouritism over party ticket allocation against Basaiawmoit.
Nongrum demanded that party leadership admit it resorted to favouritism and nepotism during the distribution of tickets to the candidates. “We are ready to compromise and come to an understanding only if the party leadership accepts its mistake,” Nongrum said.
He said he will not leave the VPP since it is a people’s party and not a property of an individual.
Stating that he will not betray the people who have put their faith in him, he clarified that he does not have any personal vendetta either against the party or its chief Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit.
“Let the leadership expel me from the party but he knows what I am standing for is right,” Nongrum said.
Referring to what happened in his North Shillong constituency, he said the leadership overlooked the recommendations of the party’s primary unit for party tickets in both Mawkhar-Pynthorumkhrah and Jaiaw KHADC constituencies which fall under the North Shillong Assembly constituency.
He demanded that Batskhem Myrboh either apologise or step down from the posts of party spokesperson and chairman of party’s State Election Committee (SEC) for his accusation that he (Nongrum) did not read the party constitution.
Nongrum mentioned that the party constitution clearly states that the recommendations for the ticket aspirants should be forwarded from the primary unit in the constituency to the district election committees. According to him, all the names will then be forwarded to the SEC for its approval.
“As the local MLA, I had also recommended names for party tickets from the two constituencies,” he said.
Further, he said that the party decided to allot a ticket to Strong Pillar Kharjana from Mawkhar-Pynthorumkhrah constituency despite him and the primary unit recommending his (Kharjana’s) name from Jaiaw constituency.
Nongrum said the SEC overlooked the recommendation which went against the provisions laid down in the party constitution.
“What is more surprising is that Denzel Chen was given a ticket to contest from Jaiaw but he did not apply for it from the primary unit. How can the party leadership decide on allotting the party ticket without seeking the views of the local MLA and the members of the primary unit?” Nongrum asked.
He further questioned how only one person applied for party ticket from Nongkrem which is party chief’s constituency.
“Even before the SEC was formed, we knew to whom the party ticket will be allotted in Nongkrem. The party leadership overlooked the recommendation of the primary unit even in Mawlai constituency,” the MLA said.
He said the VPP, which stands to fight against corruption, favouritism and nepotism, contradicted its position given the manner in which it allotted the party tickets.
“I am clear in my conscience that I will not let anyone mislead the people who have put their faith in the party. It is clear that the party founding member, who framed the party constitution, has violated it to serve his ulterior motive,” Nongrum said.
He said he came out to speak since he does not want people to have the notion that he is in agreement with the party leadership by remaining silent.
“I waited for an appropriate time to clarify my stand. I had the impression the party would listen to the voices of the people. But now, it is proven that the party listens to the voice of one supreme leader,” Nongrum said.
He added that he is not here to mislead or create confusions among people. He said people, who have put their faith in VPP, called him to know what they should do as they are confused after seeing the rumblings within the party.
Left VPP over ideology, Ind candidate recalls
Lionel Nongkhlaw, an independent candidate from Mylliem constituency, said that his decision to leave the Voice of the People Party (VPP) was due to ideological differences.
“I was part and parcel of the VPP for some time. I joined the party to learn about its ideologies. Finally, I realised that the ideology of the party differs from my ideology,” he said on Saturday.
Asserting that he has the same goal as the VPP i.e. to protect the interests of the indigenous community, he stated that he differs from the VPP in believing in action rather than showing love for the community only by shouting from a public platform.
“We cannot achieve our goal if we do not act. We need to reach out to the people who need our help,” Nongkhlaw said.
He said, as a social activist for many years, he understands the importance of working closely with the people – from orphans to those suffering from ailments.
The independent candidate said working closely with the youth to create employment opportunities and lead them on the right path is more important than anything else.
He, however, made it clear that he has no right to speak against any party and they have their agendas and vision to serve the local indigenous community.
“Similarly, I have my vision and ideas to guide and lead my people on the right path,” he said.
Replying to a query, Nongkhlaw said he did not quit the VPP because he was not given a party ticket.
He said he left the party as soon as the VPP won the Shillong parliamentary seat.
“I waited till the Lok Sabha election was over even though I made up my mind earlier,” he said.
When asked the reason for contesting this election, he said he decided to contest this election since he was concerned about the health of the KHADC.
“I want to be the voice for the need to strengthen the KHADC so that it can protect the rights and interests of the local indigenous tribe as mandated by the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,” the independent candidate said.
He said the KHADC should be able to own the land, mineral resources, water bodies, culture, tradition, and language.
“We need to protect the traditional institutions like the Dorbar Shnongs. What we see is that the state government misusing the office of the Rangbah Shnongs without acknowledging their contributions to the betterment of society,” he said.
Nongkhlaw said the government should realise that the Rangbah Shnongs who are working without any salaries or honorarium are empowered by the district councils under the provisions laid down in the Sixth Schedule.
The VPP candidate has been a social activist for 27 years and taught mathematics at the Pomlum Higher Secondary School for 20 years.
