SHILLONG, June 5: On the Congress’ barrage of salvos fired at the United Democratic Party (UDP), chief adviser of the UDP, Bindo Lanong, has deduced that the Congress should draw its attention to the political disarray in its camp instead of pointing fingers. Jemino Mawthoh, the UDP general secretary, on the other hand, feels that the realisation that UDP is emerging as a strong political force has been fueling other parties to indulge in smearing and mudslinging against the UDP.
Asserting that he would not like to react to the accusations of Pala against the UDP, Lanong said, “Let Pala introspect. Many of the major scams and corruption were during the Congress regime.”
Claiming that Pala is a new leader since he is only a Member of Parliament of Shillong, the UDP chief adviser said that he will need to know the political history and how the Congress has destroyed the state.
The UDP chief adviser went on to accuse the Congress of failing on all fronts whether it is the boundary dispute, addressing the menace of traffic congestion as well as the development front.
Different sectors, be it power, health or education, are in a bad shape due to the failure of the Congress party, Lanong continued his attack. “The party who leads the coalition government are answerable to scam and corruption. We must not forget that UDP which was formed in 1997 was only one of the partners of the coalition government,” said the UDP chief adviser.
Talking about the rift within Congress, he said, “None want to remain in the Congress due to the infighting.” Meanwhile, UDP general secretary Jemino Mawthoh, reacting to the series of allegations levelled by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and the Congress, said, “In a coalition era, numbers are important. Sometimes we are partnering with Congress and sometimes with others, but why is the UDP being targeted and blamed?”
According to him, the UDP is being blamed as other parties have come to realise that many MLAs are inclined to contest the 2023 Assembly polls on UDP ticket. “Now everyone is targeting (the UDP) because that realisation has dawned on people that we need to rely on this party to bring about a change in the state. You like it or not, as compared to other parties, UDP as far as controversies are concerned we are less controversial,” Mawthoh said.
On Leader of the Opposition Mukul Sangma’s allegations that the UDP is silent on the issue of interstate boundary, the UDP general secretary said, “They always try to find fault. We have reacted…that is for the people to see but if you keep pointing fingers, he should ask himself when he was at the helm of affairs, what steps did he take to facilitate to resolve the border issue.”
“It is easy to point out but once upon a time he has been at the helm of affairs for a very long time so what did he do,” he added.
On Saturday, Congress chief Vincent H Pala had alleged that whatever portfolio has been handed over to the UDP, it is riddled with scams and corruption.
