SHILLONG, MAY 22: United Democratic Party chief Metbah Lyngdoh on Friday said the party will finalise its candidate for the Shillong Lok Sabha by-election within a day or two, asserting that the decision will be guided by public demand and the political situation in the state.
“Well, the party has already initiated the selection of candidate for the Shillong Lok Sabha byelection but that part is still under process and we will come to a conclusion perhaps maybe within a day or two,” Lyngdoh told reporters here.
Stating that two to three party members have expressed interest in contesting, he clarified that the choice would not be based on applications alone.
“I don’t think we will go by that. First of all, we have to look at a person whether somebody is just interested to bring him as a candidate or he himself also wishes to be a candidate for any election,” he said.
Lyngdoh added that the party would assess the intent and agenda of aspirants before taking a call.
“We would also like to see what are the agendas he has with him or her, whoever the candidates are. We want to see that he really means to give that kind of a service to the people if being elected.”
On whether advocate VGK Kynta was among the contenders, he said, “There are many names but as I have said I will take at an appropriate time and since most of them they would like to see that the decision is made at the party level first, after that we will definitely inform everyone.”
The UDP chief also confirmed that discussions are on with the Regional Democratic Alliance on the bypoll.
“Talks are on in as far as that is concerned with the RDA and let us see that also maybe perhaps within a day or two. It is a timely decision that we want to take.”
On whether the MDA’s position would influence the decision, Lyngdoh said, “MDA is a government, in fact it is a coalition of many parties but as far as the party matters is concerned, we have our own thing. All the parties are working towards the interest of the state as a whole so it all depends from time to time.”
Referring to the party’s electoral performance, Lyngdoh claimed the UDP had bounced back after its 2024 Lok Sabha setback.
“Everyday is not Sunday. I would like to tell here in the last MP election, it was the worst performing year for the party and RDA as an alliance but if you look at the MDC elections, just one year after that, we have recovered 1 lakh plus additional votes to UDP alone.”
He said the turnaround and public sentiment were driving the party’s move to contest.
“That itself has really convinced us and this time when we go around, there is a lot of demand from the people and based on the political situation in the state, the demand is as such that UDP should field their own candidate.”
By Our Reporter
