The opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) on Wednesday announced its decision to field Dr Ricky AJ Syngkon, general secretary of the party as the candidate from Shillong seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha election..
Speaking to reporters here, VPP vice president Dr Kara Chen said, “The state election committee (SEC) had met on June 16 and after a threadbare discussion had decided to nominate the party’s general secretary Dr Ricky AJ Syngkon as the official candidate from Shillong parliamentary seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha election to be held in 2024.”
Asked, Dr Chen said, “As a political party once we enter the fray whether we win or lose it will not depend on the number of MLAs we are having as it is up to the people to decide.”
The vice president said that the VPP will not seek the support of other political parties .
“We have decided to fight the MP election on our own. We will not seek the support of other political parties because we want to depend on the support of the people. The party in the last Assembly election also did not align with any political parties,” he said.
Dr Chen said, “If the people elect our candidate, we feel we will be in a position to raise issues which include the long pending demand for implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP)in the state.”
The vice president said the party had received a number of applications and many also approached the president expressing their interest to contest the election.
Apart from Dr Syngkon, there were two other applicants which include Dr Bahunlang Tron, an assistant professor in PGT college and Prof Lakhon Kma, a professor of NEHU.