Meghalaya: Election Commission Recognises VPP As State Party Based On Poll Performance

The party contested 14 constituencies in the 2023 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election and won four seats in the 59-member Assembly.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday recognized the Voice of the People Party (VPP) as a state party in Meghalaya with its reserved symbol ‘Winnower’.

This was based on a review of the poll performance of the VPP in the 2023 Assembly elections where it had won four Assembly seats.
ECI Under Secretary Manish Kumar said, “I am directed to state that on the basis of a review of poll performance, the Commission vide its letter dated April 10, 2023, granted recognition to the Voice of the People Party as a state party in Meghalaya under the provisions of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968.”

“Further, it is also to inform that as per the request vide letter dated April 11, 2023 to allot ‘Winnower’, a device used for separating chaff from the grain, as its reserved symbol, has been allotted to the Party in the state of Meghalaya," Kumar added.

He also informed that a Notification in this regard will be issued in due course of time.

Welcoming the decision, VPP president Ardent Basaiawmoit said, “We are happy with the ECI recognition and we will keep on working for the welfare of the people of the state.”

The VPP is a political party established in November 2021 in the Northeastern hill state of Meghalaya.

The party president is Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, was elected to the Meghalaya Legislative assembly from the Nongkrem constituency in 2013 state Assembly election and again in the recently held 2023 Assembly election.

The party contested 14 constituencies in the 2023 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election and won four seats in the 59-member Assembly.
After a promising start with four seats won at the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election, Basaiawmoit voiced his intention for the VPP to form the government in Meghalaya in 2028.

On 20 March 2023, Basaiawmoit and fellow VPP MLAs protested against the Governor of Meghalaya's Hindi speech in the first budget session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly 2023 by storming out of the session, stating that Meghalaya is a non-Hindi state and that the "Centre has insulted Meghalaya by sending a governor who cannot speak in the state's official language.”

The writer is a senior independent journalist covering the Northeast.