UDP jitters over Khongwir pat for Cajee

SHILLONG, JAN 19: Denying that he has join the Congress party, former Meghalaya minister and veteran leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP) SD Khongwir said he has just blessed Congress candidate Founder Cajee even as his party is fielding Member of District Council (MDC) Embhahlang Syiemlieh from Mawlai constituency.

The veteran politician who had announced his retirement from active politics in 1998 after serving as the Mawlai MLA for twenty-six year told this reporter, “I still continue to be a UDP; however I appreciate the work of the present Mawlai legislator FS Cajee and his take on accountability.”

It is this contradiction that is sending a confusing signal as to why he is not coming clean on his status of his allegiance to a political party. Khongwir has been a die-hard regional party leader for donkey’s years but the sudden the “blessing to FS” has sent his party into a tizzy. Newspapers were agog with speculation that he has joined the Congress party, which of course, he vehemently denies.

In an hour long tete-e-tete with Suraj Joshi, associate editor of www.ohmeghalaya.com, Khongwir said, “Just because I have blessed FS Cajee does not mean I have join the Congress, there are around three aspirants who are contesting to become MLA of Mawlai and all of them came to me and I blessed them.”

For a person who is the Mawlai Nonglum headman for forty-five years and the president of Mawlai Town Dorbar for the last thirty years, Khongwir’s “blessing” might actually give an edge to those who have been fortunate in being blessed.

However a hint of his disappointment with his party UDP can be gauged when he revealed that in 1998 assembly elections, the UDP candidate PT Sawkmie did not even bothered to call on him and, reflecting back, he said, “I simply distance myself from campaigning for any candidates.”

Khongwir, however, confined that just two days before the polling in 1998, the Congress supporters along with its candidate FS Cajee called him at his residence gate. He said, “How could I say no to them when they came to my gate and called me.”

Khongwir said he went and met the Congress supporters and shook hand with its candidate FS Cajee that was captured in camera and, he adds, “The next day newspapers carried the picture and people thought I was supporting Cajee and voted for him and he won.”

Now, small wonder that the UDP went into a tizzy when Khongwir went a step ahead and blessed FS this time. Now we will have to wait for the assembly election result to see whether the blessing will materialise into votes for the Congress candidate to retain his seat.