UDP concedes VPP’s arrival; NPP points at slump in votes
SHILLONG, Feb 25: The VPP’s history-defying triumph in the KHADC polls on Monday has put the NPP-led MDA coalition in discomfort. The Ardent Basaiawmoit-led party has cemented its position in Meghalaya’s political landscape and is now being considered the primary challenger to the ruling NPP.
Although smarting from their defeat in the KHADC polls, the NPP is putting up a brave face by claiming that the vote share of the VPP has dropped drastically from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls nine months ago and it may reduce by 80% in the 2028 Assembly elections.
The UDP, on the other hand, has acknowledged that the VPP’s performance in both the KHADC and JHADC has certainly made the party a key player in state politics.
UDP working president and Cabinet Minister, Paul Lyngdoh on Tuesday summed up the VPP’s meteoric rise to people’s desire for change.
“People always think that a new broom sweeps well. We have been on the ground for long and so obviously people will point out our mistakes,” Lyngdoh said.
He stated that in politics there is always a graph which keeps rising until one reaches the climax. “And then, you will slide till you reach the bottom from where you go back to the climax,” Lyngdoh said, referring to the VPP’s electoral successes and the slide of the MDA partners.
Taking a dig at the VPP, he said the VPP leaders always claim that they are not in power and are unable to deliver on their promises.
“It is a good thing that the VPP is in a comfortable position to lead the EC in the KHADC and I hope they will deliver on their electoral promises,” he said.
Party MLA from Nongpoh, Mayralborn Syiem dismissed the district council results as a reflection or indication of the political scenario in the 2028 Assembly polls.
Syiem said the outcome in Ri-Bhoi was mixed since people gave three seats to the VPP and two to the MDA (means NPP).
“But I totally disagree that the results are an indication of things to come in 2028. The fate of all political parties in 2028 will be decided purely based on performance,” Syiem said, terming the KHADC results as an indication that people want to give an opportunity to a new political entity.
“This trend, which the state is experiencing, is healthy for democracy,” he added.
The NPP, however, is not taking the results as a signal of the VPP’s triumphant arrival in Meghalaya politics.
Deputy Chief Minister and senior NPP leader, Sniawbhalang Dhar on Tuesday said the VPP led in all the Assembly segments in Shillong during the parliamentary polls but it could not maintain the same momentum in the ADC polls as the MDA’s vote share has improved.
He said the vote share of the VPP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election was more than five lakh, which reduced to 3.71 lakh in the ADC polls. “The vote share may reduce further by 80% in the 2028 polls,” he observed.
Asking the party not to worry but to work hard following the debacle in the KHADC polls, Dhar said the party’s share in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region has increased from 1.8 to 2.8%.
Denying allegations of using muscle power in the Jaintia Hills to defeat the VPP, he said muscle power does not work in elections and there is no need for any blame game.
“They (VPP) won 17 seats here. Do they mean to say that they used money and muscle power?” he asked while informing reporters that the NPP has 14 MDCs in JHADCs and with the support of partners, they are set to constitute the new Executive Committee with 18 MDCs.
Asked if the new VPP-led EC would create hurdles for developmental projects and schemes of the government by not granting NOCs, he said that they know how to run the government.
“On so many occasions, different political parties have run the KHADC and the government at the same time and every political party wants to take the state to a different level,” he said.