CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG, Oct 1: Senior United Democratic Party (UDP) leader Paul Lyngdoh said the party had "paid the price" for what he described as shortcomings in its leadership, particularly the "narrow tunnel vision" of party president Metbah Lyngdoh, which he alleged had prevented the regional party from developing a broader political vision beyond individual constituencies.
He said the UDP's potential decline from 12 MLAs to one represented a "huge fall" for the party, arguing that its legislators had not received political assignments through the party president and instead had to approach Chief Minister Conrad Sangma or Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong individually.
"You can't have a party president who is interested in creating a district only for his constituency and his immediate neighbour, you can't have that narrow tunnel vision where the only letter he signed was for his own induction into the cabinet," Paul Lyngdoh said.
He added that these were among the issues that had been "festering" within the party and that he had chosen to be blunt and direct about his concerns, but his views were ignored by the party rank and file.
On speculation over whether he could leave the UDP, Lyngdoh said the question remained hypothetical and that he would respond when it became a reality. He also pointed to Meghalaya's political history of parties that had fought fiercely before elections subsequently working together after elections, saying, "there is no permanent friend or permanent enemy in politics."
Lyngdoh said the political situation in Meghalaya remained "very hazy", with the Shillong Lok Sabha bypoll and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) elections yet to be held. He said these were two stages that needed to be crossed before there could be a clearer assessment of the political environment in the State.
Recalling his own call for change during the last general elections, when he directly contested against Metbah Lyngdoh and lost by three votes, he said he had subsequently continued engaging with party leaders and had stressed the need for someone with "a vision beyond his constituency."
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