NONGPOH: The Ri Bhoi unit of the UDP has said DD Lapang should have resigned from the party before the assembly elections in February which would have benefitted the people of the district.
Appreciating the decision of the veteran politician to quit the Congress, UDP’s Ri Bhoi unit general secretary Rayonald Kharkamni told The Shillong Times on Tuesday that for a leader of Lapang’s stature to leave the party after so many decades “shows that there must have been something wrong with the leadership of the Congress”.
Kharkamni said it was unfortunate that the veteran leader’s realisation came too late.
“Had Dr Lapang resigned from the party before the General Assembly elections, the people of Ri Bhoi district would have benefitted a lot as this would have changed the fate of the present representative of Nongpoh, Mayralborn Syiem,” he added.
Referring to Lapang’s campaign at Umden days before the February election, Kharkamni said he shed tears for his party candidate that “badly affected the winning prospects of our candidate, Rona Khymdeit, as the people of Nongpoh constituency respect him (Lapang) and love him so much for his immense contribution to the constituency, the district and the state”.
“If Dr Lapang hadn’t supported the present Congress legislator from Nongpoh,Khymdeit would have easily won the election and became the minister in the present government, which could have benefitted not just Nongpoh constituency but the district and the state,” the UDP leader added.
“By leaving the Congress after facilitating the victory of its candidate from Nongpoh, Dr Lapang has left the people of the constituency high and dry, like a queen bee leaving the beehive and the offspring to fend for themselves,” Kharkamni said.
Terming Lapang’s decision to support the Congress candidate as “a blunder”, Kharkamni said people have to suffer for this.
Meanwhile, Kharkamni also said the UDP would wholeheartedly welcome Lapang into the party “if he intends to have active part in the state politics to fulfil his dream of creating Nongpoh a model constituency in the country”.
