Mukul, Lapang to meet Sonia today
From Our Spl Correspondent
New Delhi: After months of dithering and several failed attempts to contain the dissidence in the State Congress, the AICC finally brought both Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and his political rival DD Lapang to the negotiation table for a patch-up.
Dr Sangma and Lapang, who met top party functionaries here on Thursday, are likely to bury the hatchet in presence of the all powerful Sonia Gandhi on Friday, AICC sources informed The Shillong Times here.
The sources also informed that both rivals would ‘seal the deal’ to end the political game being played in the State for the past several months.
Though the terms and conditions of the ‘mutual agreement’ could not be ascertained, yet in all likelihood, both factions would be asked to work unitedly for the party and the State keeping in view the Assembly polls in 2013.
There is also possibility that a high-level committee, containing senior leaders from both factions, would be constituted to iron out whatever differences remain. Another possibility is that one or more dropped ministers might make a comeback into the Cabinet, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the sudden resignation of four Garo MLAs including two former ministers in the Mukul Cabinet — AD Marak, FW Momin, Sayeedullah Nongrum and Samuel Sangma — has thrown a spanner in the whole exercise.
The four leaders have written to Sonia Gandhi expressing their desire to resign from the membership of the Assembly, apprehending rout of the party in the 2013 polls if the leadership issue is not resolved.
During the day, Lapang also held a meeting with CWC member and former in-charge of the State Oscar Fernandes who was keen on reconciliation between the two factions.
Dr Sangma later joined the duo and discussed State issues.
Dr Sangma later held a separate meeting with Lapang and Prestone Tynsong at Meghalaya House where they have been putting up together for the first time.Sources, however, remained tightlipped over the details of the meeting.
It was also learnt that the two leaders would meet AICC general secretary in-charge of Meghalaya, Dr Dhaniram Shandil and secretary Sanjay Bapna on Friday.
PC meets Mukul, State top cops
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday convened a meeting with Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and top police officials of the State to review the security scenario in the State, a press release issued here stated.
Chidambaram urged the Chief Minister to take necessary steps to address security related issues to ensure sustained peace in the State, even as he assured all necessary support from the Centre in this regard.
The meeting was also attended by the Union Home Secretary and senior MHA officials.