By Our Reporter
Shillong: The delimitation of constituencies will be an important factor in the upcoming 2013 elections but the Congress believes that the party has an edge over others.
Talking to a group of journalists here on Friday about the run up to the elections, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said that the delimitation may be advantageous to some and not to others.
“But going by the last parliamentary elections it seems that the delimitation process as of now is to our advantage,” Dr Sangma added.
It may be mentioned that in Shillong the delimitation process will be the deciding factor between Deputy Chief Minister Bindo M Lanong and Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh who will be pitted against each other.
Similarly, the delimitation is now also a vital factor for the two sitting MLAs Manas Chaudhuri and Sanbor Shullai who will contest the elections against each other in the much-hyped elections.
According to Dr Sangma the Congress party in this upcoming election would be eyeing for an absolute majority so that the party does not require the support of coalition partners.
The Chief Minister is also confident that people will elect the Congress party in the elections as this Government is trying its best to develop the State in all the sectors
“People are intelligent so if we perform we will be elected and if we don’t perform we will be rejected,” Dr Sangma added.
When asked whether the Congress is looking for a merger with its rival party NCP along the lines of the merger of KHNAM and UDP, the Chief Minister said, “In politics new thoughts will emerge and nothing is static.”
Meanwhile the two Congress general secretaries in-charge of Meghalaya, Dhaniram Shandil and Sanjay Bapna, would visit the State on December 4 and 5 to assess the party’s preparedness for the elections.
Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) working president Deborah told scribes that that Dhaniram Shandil would visit the state on December 4 and Sanjay Bapna would also join him.
“The two leaders will visit some block committees,” she added.
Deborah Marak also claimed that the NCP would have a tough time tackling the Congress party in Garo Hills this time.
It may be mentioned that the NCP in the last MLA elections performed very well in Garo Hills but this time the Congress is hoping for a turn around.
She also claimed that the NCP may have done well in the last elections but this time the Congress will root out the NCP from Garo Hills.
Reacting to a query whether the rumblings within the Congress would give a bad image to people, Marak stated that no party is untouched by rumblings.
“I don’t think that the rumblings have affected any developmental projects in the State,” a confident looking Deborah stated.