Keeping their finger cross as the litmus test set for the ruling NPP during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the party’s leadership makes all effort to unseat the three time MP from Congress Vincent Pala.
National People’s Party (NPP) national general secretary in-charge finance James K Sangma on Friday said the party will give its best shot to win the Shillong parliamentary seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Sangma said that the NPP candidate from Shillong and cabinet minister Ampareen Lyngdoh is getting a very good response from the public.
It may be mentioned that Ampareen Lyngdoh never lost any election in her life time.
“Election is election. There is no need for posturing. We must give our best shot as a party and today we have a very good candidate, who has already started campaigning and she is getting a very good response from the public. We are working hard as a party, as a family and I think we are very hopeful that this will yield good results,” he said while speaking to the media persons.
The constituency has been represented by the sitting MP Vincent H Pala of the Congress for the past 15 years.
Asked, Sangma said the anti-incumbency is always a factor in elections and it will play its part against the sitting MP of Shillong.
“I would not say that it will not play a part in this election. It could be very well be a major factor in elections but then again for us, our focus is primarily on our candidate on the kind of vision that she has for the region, of how she can as an MP to do things better, do things differently – so that would be a positive campaign we are looking forward to rather than the negative one where we start criticising opponents,” he said.
On Pala blaming the NPP-led MDA government for delay in inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule, Sangma said that is factually incorrect.
“We all know Khasi has found its way of course there is no finalisation to this as it has to go to parliament but then it has found its way into the list and Garo for some reasons was at that point of time not found its place in that list but that was rectified as I had just mentioned by our MP Agatha, she went and met central ministers and that was rectified. I think to say that it isn’t being considered is factually incorrect,” he added.