Race for top party post hots up
From CK Nayak
New Delhi: The choice for the next MPCC president has narrowed down to four aspirants from the plethora of party luminaries. But the final call will be taken by party supremo, Sonia Gandhi.
The fate of the four lies in a sealed envelope handed over to AICC president Sonia Gandhi by none other than the outgoing president Friday Lyngdoh.
The process for appointing the next MPCC president had started rolling with the AICC general secretary in charge of Meghalaya Dr Dhaniram Shandil holding consultations with Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and Union Minister of State for Water Resources Vincent H Pala.
The AICC leaders also held talks with other leaders who were handling the party affairs of Meghalaya earlier.
It is understood that Friday Lyngdoh had submitted his choice in a sealed envelope to Mrs Gandhi at the time of putting in his papers. If Mrs Gandhi accepts that name then the next president will be someone chosen by Friday.
Not only are the top guns of the party like former Chief Minister DD Lapang and former Rajya Sabha MP and also former MPCC president OL Nongtdu in the race but several others too are in the running.
Among others in the reckoning include present working president Mrs Deborah Marak, former Member of National Commission for Women (NCW) Wansuk Syiem, MPCC vice-president PW Muktieh, Prestone Tynsong and Dr RC Laloo (both ministers) and Sayeedullah Nongrum (former minister).
But now the choices have reduced to just four — Lapang, Nongtdu, Wansuk and Muktieh, top party sources said.
Some of the probables have been eliminated because the norm is that the PCC president cannot be from Garo Hills since the Chief Minister is a Garo.
Among the four, each has distinct advantages but none of them are sure to reach the top slot. Lapang is the senior most and besides having been Chief Minister for several years, had also led the party when Salseng C Marak was heading the Government.
Nongtdu held the reins of the party for a long time and the party fared well under his leadership. Some in the AICC believe that Muktieh being the vice-president could be the natural choice to succeed the outgoing president.
Wansuk who has been general secretary in the party for a long time and a senior party member apart from being a woman has an edge over the others.
So far, neither the Chief Minister nor the Union Minister have made their choice public. But the AICC will choose from the panel of names and try to strike a balance in view of the upcoming Assembly polls which is barely ten months away.
“Despite all these factors it is ‘Madam’ who will take the final call,” said one AICC leader on condition of anonymity.