Congress legislator Ronnie V. Lyngdoh has drawn parallels between the Voice of the People Party (VPP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), predicting that the newly emergent political force in Meghalaya will meet a similar fate as AAP, which, he claimed, collapsed after exploiting public emotions.
“When you are exploiting emotion, like the AAP in Delhi, now they are finished because they exploited the emotion of the people, came up with something—even to do away with corruption. In fact, they (AAP) were caught with their hands in the tail. Similarly, the VPP has not been tried, they have not been tested. People said, ‘Let’s give them a chance,’ now they have got to prove themselves,” Lyngdoh remarked.
He pointed out that while the VPP had been vocal on the reservation policy during their campaign, they have since remained silent on the issue after assuming power in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC). “You see, they (VPP) have not been tried, so maybe people are giving them an opportunity. Now they are ruling in KHADC. They are no longer talking about the reservation policy. What has stopped them? They should keep talking. They could raise it in the House also. This is the correct platform to raise issues and demands, and now people will see through all this,” he said.
Criticizing the party’s performance in Parliament, Lyngdoh alleged that VPP’s lone MP has failed to address any substantial issues. “Now their MP has never raised any issue in Parliament. You see, when you are in the opposition, it’s very easy to promise people, but once you are in power and you have to deliver, then it’s a completely different ball game altogether,” he added.