Shillong, Aug 1: The National People’s Party (NPP) has asserted that leaders of rival political parties joining the NPP reflects the people’s trust on the party and not just the individual leaders.
“Do you think these four Congress MLAs, who have joined NPP, had not consulted with their leaders and people of their respective constituencies?” NPP state president and deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong told reporters on Friday.
The Congress lost its last MLA in the 60-member assembly as Ronnie V Lyngdoh joined the ruling NPP recently.
Dismissing allegations that his party was into poaching MLAs from other parties, Tynsong said the MLAs’ decision to join the NPP was driven by the party’s development agenda.
“It’s not because of money; it’s purely based on development,” he said, adding that the MLAs have seen the party’s commitment to development and are being pressurised by their constituents to join the NPP.
He further said, “It is not Ronnie V Lyngdoh who chose to join NPP, it is his people…”
“We have a big room, and the door is still open. If all 60 MLAs join us, the more the merrier,” Tynsong said.
Tynsong also advised the Congress party to revisit and revamp its internal politics, suggesting that the party’s failure to retain its MLAs is a result of its own shortcomings.
Asserting that the party’s agenda is not to divide any rival group, he said, “We are not here to break VPP, to break HSPDP or to break any other political parties like UDP and others.”
“…we hardly sleep as we want to provide development to each and every constituency in the state,” Tynsong added.
