SHILLONG, MAR 23: The National People’s Party (NPP) on Tuesday asked United Democrati Party (UDP) former Nongthymmai legislator Jemino Mawthoh to avoid sounding like a “mouthpiece” of the opposition Congress over the power crisis issue.
This came a day after Mawthoh as the general secretary of the UDP had shot a letter to the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma demanding immediate removal of the incumbent Power Minister James K Sangma and CMD of MeECL Arun Kumar Kembhavi.
Speaking to media persons, Nickey Nongkhlaw, national president of the National People’s Youth Front (NPYF), a youth wing of the NPP said ousting a people’s elected representative and an administrative head does not solve any problem. Rather, it delays solutions.
“No person has a magic wand using which solutions magically arrive with a swoosh. The fact that James Sangma and the CMD continuously negotiated for resolving the power cuts issue is why NEEPCO has consented to withdraw its regulations in the first place,” he said.
Terming Jemino as an opportunist, Nongkhlaw said knowing the difficulties related to electricity that the government was trying to solve guided by the Power Minister, Mawthoh – who has been a silent spectator of politics all this while – suddenly found a good opportunity to gain political mileage.
On Monday, he had the audacity to write to the Chief Minister for ousting the power minister along with the CMD of MeECL, he added.
The NPP youth leader further asked Mawthoh to stop being hypocrite and avoid sounding like a mouthpiece of a dying party like Congress.
“Power cuts and load shedding during the previous governments had been worse but not for once did he blow the trumpet of resignation then. Even now, whenever issues surfare concerning health, education, social welfare, connectivity, law and order, he keeps silent,” he said.
“It makes us think if he is selective in his approach or he is just not aware of what is happening in the state, part of the reason why his own constituents have lost respect for him.
However, talking too much about Mawthoh gives him more importance than what he deserves. Perhaps he must learn a little more from the legislators of his own party, who have supported the government in its endeavours.
They have remained close partners of the NPP-led government in solving issues and being answerable to people. With such mature leadership shown from them in times of crisis, it is sometimes a head-scratcher to figure out how Mawthoh fits into such a party,” Nongkhlaw added.
The NPYF president further stated that Mawthoh has been out of politics for the longest time and is becoming irrelevant.
“His own constituents voted him out in the 2018 elections following his misleading motives in politics and his inability to cater to his own people. Defying the mandate of the people to vote him out, he decided to take greater responsibility by standing for the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Understanding his desperation and his hunger for power, perhaps people felt it was a good time for him to take some time off and rethink his political motives of misleading people over and over again. The democratic mandate stood once again as he failed to win an MP seat,” he said.
Asked on the party’s decision to take on Jemino alone and not against the entire UDP, Nongkhlaw however said, “we are not scared of taking on the entire UDP but the NPP rejects the letter sent by Jemino as it has not come from the party but from him alone.”
By Our Reporter
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