Roy take for free and fair elections

SHILLONG, MARCH 15: Clearly at a loss over UDP’s debacle in the Assembly elections, senior party leader Donkupar Roy offered, what some would call, a bizarre suggestion to ensure free and fair elections in the state: the prime minister of the country should refrain from campaigning in the state elections.

Alluding to the status enjoyed by the prime minister in any government as being the first among equals, Roy said to ensure a fair fight among equals in a state like Meghalaya where politics is generally centered around Congress and the rest, it would be unfair for a Congress prime minister to campaign in the state elections. “We expect state elections to be among equals and therefore the prime minister should not campaign for the Congress henceforth,” he said while participating in the debate on the governor’s address in the Assembly on Friday.

Roy, however, did not reveal what sort unfair advantage a prime minister would derive while campaigning for his party in the state elections, especially given that governments are debarred from offering any kind of sops to the voters once the of model of code of conduct comes into effect before any election. He also did not share his thoughts on whether or not he was okay if a prime minister whose party is not one of main contenders in the state were to campaign for any other party or formation.

The UDP leader’s extraordinary statement clearly suggests that his party, who was part of the last government in alliance with the Congress, is yet to come to terms with the loss in the last elections. The party only managed to secure eight seats against the 10 it had held earlier. The Congress, on the other hand, with 29 felt just two seats short of securing a simple majority on the 60-member House.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was among the host of Congress bigwigs, including Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, who had campaigned in the state.

Roy also sought to question the fairness of the elections while agreeing with the governor about it being peaceful. “I do not know how you define free and fair when people do not have confidence in the functioning of EVMs!” he wondered.(By Our Reporter)