Exclusive
Shillong, Sept 22: The Voice of People Party (VPP) is unlikely to contest the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) elections next year, with party president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit stressing organisational priorities and admitting that language barriers make it difficult to find the right candidates in Garo Hills.
“From the party we have not yet decided to contest Garo Hills Autonomous District Council elections schedule for next year. As of now, we will first concentrate on the party organisation. Because by experience we have seen how the government is trying hard to ensure that the Voice of the People’s Party can be stopped, so we have to go for slow moving as far as the elections of the GHADC is concerned,” Basaiawmoit said.
On Assembly prospects in Garo Hills, he remarked, “The candidates who propagate values, philosophy and the ideology of the party will not be easy in Garo Hills as it was in Khasi Hills because of the language barrier. Here whatever we say it comes from our mouth straight to the person listens to what we say but there we need an interpretor. So, we need Right people, people who can convey to the commoners the principal, goals, aims and objectives of the party. It has to be done in a simple manner in a way the people could understand.”
He clarified that VPP is not limited to Khasi-Jaintia Hills but is constrained by resources. “We are state regional party, so we don’t have any intention to fight only in Khasi Jaintia Hills region. But, as a new party, we have resources constrain, and we have some other problems also, so it is not easy for us to reach out to the every nooks corner of the state. We hope gradually the party will be well established party in entire state and have reached out to every nook and corner of the state.”
On whether Garo leaders are keen to join, he said, “We are trying to as bring up new faces.”
