Meghalaya: United Democratic Party will bounce back, says spokesperson Paul Lyngdoh

A Correspondent

Shillong: Paul Lyngdoh, a spokesperson for the United Democratic Party (UDP) and Cabinet Minister, expressed confidence in the party's ability to recover following their defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. According to him politics is always in a state of flux, nothing is permanent. “UDP will bounce back. We will surely have to introspect,” Lyngdoh said. Party leaders will meet shortly to take stock of the situation, he said.

UDP’s candidate Robertjune Kharjahrin fought the Lok Sabha election from the Shillong seat under the umbrella of the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) with Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) as partners, however they could garner only 44,563 votes claiming the fourth position.

“Every political party has had this kind of a journey. The Prime Minister, who mentioned having more than 400 seats in Parliament, is attempting to forge close ties with his other allies because the BJP lacks a mandate of its own,” he said. The UDP leader claims that although the party has currently reached its lowest point, there is no way for it to go any lower and that setbacks are typical in politics. “The only other option for us is to bounce back,” he added.

On the claim of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) that it is the only alternative and will replace all regional parties in the state, Lyngdoh said that it’s a statement they had to make with the kind of mandate they got. “But the matter of the fact is that in the Assembly the UDP has 12 MLAs and its partner, HSPDP has two. They are a sizeable block in the state assembly and also in the autonomous district councils the UDP has presence both in the KHADC and JHADC,” he added.

On Lyngdoh’s earlier comment that VPP is a district party, he clarified that at the point when he made that statement the VPP had four parties all from constituencies of East Khasi Hills district. “It was true at that point of time. The result yesterday has shown that it has gone beyond and has presence in Khasi-Jaintia hills region. According to assessments, the temporary leader of the UDP lost to the VPP on the wave of populism. He reiterated that this is a temporary setback for the UDP and the party is confident of bouncing back.

Also Read: United Democratic Party candidate wins Meghalaya Assembly bye-poll (sentinelassam.com)

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