Krang: Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) supremo Conrad Sangma on Monday lashed out at coalition partners for making speeches against his party, during an election campaign, for their apparent opportunism.
“I want to tell them (coalition partners) in our culture, in the Indian culture as well as in the Khasi culture and in the Garo culture also, we don’t spit on the plate from which we eat. Please remember we don’t,” he said while campaigning for the NPP candidate for the Sohiong bye-election.
“There are many other political parties, they will come here and give so many speeches against the NPP. They will work with the NPP when it is convenient for them and when the election campaign comes, they will go and speak against the NPP,” the NPP supremo told the crowd.
Addressing the election rally at Krang village for the party candidate Samlin Malngiang, Sangma said, “We (NPP) are good and we are kind and we work together because we believe in working together… I have never uttered a single word against these people, but it hurts me today when I hear such language and such divisive politics that people are playing. This is not healthy for our people and for our state,” Sangma argued.
Urging the 34,783 electorates to vote for the NPP candidate to bring development and change to Sohiong constituency, Sangma said the only way to bring development to the constituency is to vote for the NPP which is leading the government in the State.
Election to Sohiong assembly seat was adjourned just before the February 27 assembly elections due to the death of United Democratic Party (UDP) candidates, Horju Donkupar Roy Lyngdoh, a former minister and leader of the UDP. Incidentally, the UDP is a coalition partner of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, which the NPP heads.
Six candidates are in the fray for the Sohiong bye-election, which include Synshar Lyngdoh Thabah of the UDP, Samlin Malngiang of the NPP, Congress candidate Osborne Kharjana, BJP candidate Eric Kharbuki, Trinamool Congress candidate Stoding Thabah and Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) candidate Sandondor Ryntathiang.
Voting for the Sohiong seat would be held on May 10 and counting of votes would be taken up on March 13.
