SHILLONG, MAR 17: Fissures within the All Regional Parties Alliance (ARPA) coalition partners is becoming all too apparent over the United Democratic Party (UDP) Shillong Lok Sabha candidate Paul Lyngdoh as the party on Monday has asked its KHADC allies Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) to prove their claims Lyngdoh doesn’t stand a chance to win the election slated for April.
The HSPDP and KHNAM-UDP coalition partners in the All Regional Parties Alliance (ARPA) in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC)- recently turned down the UDP’s offer to support its candidate and instead decided to support the Common People Front (CPF)’s candidate Rev PBM Basaiawmoit for the Shillong Lok Sabha seat.
The two parties had said that Lyngdoh does not stand a chance to win the elections.
Obviously, the UDP is peeved over the statement and its secretary Allan Franklin Dkhar on Monday said that the UDP wants the two parties to prove the mechanism adopted by them that led them to come to a conclusion that Lyngdoh will not win the elections.
Dkhar told reporters on Monday, “We cannot accept their claims as this is something which is not at all true.”According to him, to conduct such assessment on elections, the shortest survey would at least take 10-15 days and that too by engaging over 200 people to complete it.
The statement of the UDP also came in the wake of the allegations made by the KHNAM and HSPDP that the reasons for the failure of the regional parties to put common candidate is that the UDP failed to informed them on its decision to go ahead with Lyngdoh as its Lok Sabha candidate even after a steering committee was constituted by the UDP.
Refuting the allegations, Dkhar said an agreement was made in one of the meetings that the HSPDP and KHNAM will convince Basaiawmoit not to contest in the upcoming elections and UDP also will do the same before exploring on the decision to have a common candidate.
Turning the table on the HSPDP and KHNAM Dkhar said, “They failed to convince Basaiawmoit, who has made his stand clear that he would go ahead and contest the elections.”
According to Dkhar, the steering committee constituted by the UDP was an off-shoot of the decision of the party’s Selection Election Committee (SEC) to put up a candidate for the Lok Sabha election after understanding that the HSPDP and KHNAM does not intend to put any candidate.
Dkhar said, “We felt it necessary to take the decision of the party to the steering committee to mobilize support to the party’s candidate and to say that the party has failed to inform them is not true.”
On the recent comment made on the party’s performance, Dkhar said, “We want to remind the HSPDP and KHNAM that the Lok Sabha election does not cover only areas under KHADC but it is also in Jaintia Hills region as well.”
Dkhar claimed that the UDP has the largest vote shares than the HSPDP and KHNAM in the 2009 and 2014 district council elections besides assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
Buttering his claims, Dkhar said, “We have eight legislators and eleven MDCs at present.” He appealed to the people to give their own judgment on the issue.
He added, “If we go by performance wise, UDP organizationally speaking has its presence in every nook and corner of the state when compared to them.”
On the HSPDP and KHNAM’s common candidate (Basaiawmoit), Dkhar said that Basaiawmoit is just an Independent candidate and the UDP wants to remind the two parties that this election is of parliamentary level and not just district level.
Dkhar said, “Standing alone (as Independent) in the parliament having around 500 members, who will listen to him.” Recalling the 2004 MP elections, he said that the UDP had similar experience in the past when regional parties under the banner of Regional Parties Alliance (RPA) had decided to come up with a common candidate but failed.
Answering queries , Dkhar reiterated that Lok Sabha election will in no way affect the relationship of the three regional parties under the ARPA in KHADC adding that the UDP will ensure that ARPA will complete its five year term.- By Our Reporter
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