SHILLONG, March 14: Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar on Tuesday said the mandate of the people does not justify the demand for a Khasi as the chief minister.
“If they want a Khasi CM, let the people vote for only one party in the Khasi Hills. It is as simple as that. They can vote for the NPP or the UDP if they want,” he said.
A senior NPP leader, Dhar admitted that the VPP affected his party in constituencies such as Nongkrem, Mawlai and Sohryngkham.
The newly-floated VPP sprang a surprise by winning four seats. It was close to winning a few more in the Khasi Hills region.
Asked about the NPP’s poor performance in the Khasi Hills, Dhar said the party will conduct a post-mortem exercise after the Assembly session ends for taking steps to improve in the next polls.
Expressing satisfaction at the poll results for the party in the Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi district, he said the performance in the Khasi Hills was unexpected.
“It cannot be said that the NPP is unacceptable in the Khasi Hills region as there are so many political parties here and getting 26 seats is not a joke,” Dhar said.
He said parties such as the Trinamool Congress and the BJP getting “3-4 seats” indicates that they are yet to be accepted by the people of the state.
