Shillong, Aug 25: The explosion in support for the new entity in the state- Voice of the People Party (VPP) which shook the political ground across the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region, sweeping the 36 assembly segments of the Shillong MP seat in the recent Parliamentary elections, has nudged the oldest regional party- United Democratic Party to sit up and take notice.
Afterall, this once used to be the bastion of the UDP that called the shots for decades. Despite facing ups and downs in its political history, the UDP always managed to survive, in most cases sharing a table with whosoever was the single largest party to form the government.
The UDP has been part of each and every state government for well over 20 long years- from the tenure of chief minister DD Lapang and Mukul Sangma to the current dispensation headed by Conrad K Sangma.
And that appears to have turned to be its achilles heel. Voter fatigue for the regional party appears to have grown, if one goes by the 2023 assembly elections and the more recent Shillong MP results.
With a new party in the domain (VPP) lead by firebrand leader Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, who believes and claims to be a party with a difference, support base of the UDP is eroding as voters flock to the new entrant.
With little to indicate a slump in support for Ardent’s party, the UDP is looking at new hunting grounds to make up for any lost ground.
UDP leader and former home minister Lahkmen Rymbui has said that the regional party needs to do more to venture into Garo Hills where there are 24 seats up for grabs, but a region that has always snubbed his party with opponents terming it a “Khasi Party”.
The UDP failed to open its account in successive state elections from the Garo Hills region for around 15 years.
The last time it had any elected representative from Garo Hills was in 2003 when Heltone Marak won from Songsak constituency of East Garo Hills and Nimarson Momin from Salmanpara in 2008.
“We are going to need to strengthen the party at the grassroot level, including the Garo Hills region,” says Rymbui as the party plans to hold various organization level meets.
At present, the party has former Tura MLA John Leslee K Sangma, a known baiter of the NPP, on its side. But it will need to do more.
The political field in Garo Hills is already claustrophobic with the NPP taking up major space, followed behind by the TMC and the BJP, and now a rejuvenated Congress fresh from its massive victory in the Tura Lok Sabha seat, barely three months ago.
The party is also making attempts to prove to its supporters that its core values of being “Independent” and “regional” remain strong.
“We may be part of the government, but we will not hesitate to criticise it should it deviate from the path of governance,” says Rymbui in a defensive stance.
But then again, the VPP and the TMC are already there in the opposition benches to take on the government without holding back on anything.
The UDP will need to do more than mere lip service to hold back its fast depleting support within its own bastion in Khasi-Jaintia region.
