By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Assembly Speaker Charles Pyngrope has ruled out the possibility of campaigning for his son David A Nongrum who is contesting as an Independent from Mawryngkneng constituency while also maintaining that he would not rally behind the Congress candidate from the area either.
Tagging his son as a favourite to win the seat, Pyngrope, who filed his nomination papers for contesting from Nongthymmai constituency on a Congress ticket on Thursday said, “Anybody who decides to contest the election should have the capacity to campaign for himself. My son should fight this election on his own strength.”
The Congress had preferred Pynehborlang Mukhim over Nongrum at Mawryngkneng.
The Assembly Speaker said the ‘parameters of the AICC’ led to the denial of ticket to his son.
“I know that both the Block Congress Committee (BCC) and State Election Committee (SEC) have recommended the name of my son for the party ticket. But AICC leaders thought otherwise,” the Assembly Speaker said.
When asked if it was the political game of a section of the State’s top Congress leaders, Pyngrope said that he was not aware of any such thing.
“I do not think the decision of my son to contest the election is against the directive of the party. It is the Congress leaders from Mawryngkneng constituency who persuaded my son to contest the election after he was denied ticket,” he said.
When ask if David would ultimately join the Congress camp after winning the election, he said that he would leave it to the wisdom of his son.
Nongrum, meanwhile, said “The people of the constituency compelled me to contest the election”.
“I had applied for the Congress ticket after my father, who has served the constituency for a decade, decided to contest from Nongthymmai. I wanted to pursue the unaccomplished mission of my father,” Nongrum said while expressing disappointment over the denial of Congress ticket.
“I had won the both the elections at the block level, required for recommending the name of the party candidate, by a sizable margin and still denied the ticket,” the Independent candidate from Mawryngkneng said.
When ask if he would join still join Congress camp after the election despite being overlooked for the party ticket, Nongrum said that it was not for him to decide.
“I would leave it to the wisdom of my supporters what would be my role after the election,” he added.
CM’S POST: Earlier, after filing his nomination papers, Pyngrope categorically denied that he was in race for the Chief Minister’s post.
“I do not know who is raking up my name. I want to make it clear that I am not an aspirant for the post,” he said while adding that the focus now was on the election campaign. I am contesting from a delimited constituency which covers areas coming from four different constituencies (Malki-Nongthymmai, Sohryngkham, Pynthorumkhrah and Laitumkhrah) and face an uphill task,” he said.
Pyngrope, however, expressed confidence on winning the election. Providing proper road communication, setting up of better health care facilities and lifting the standard of education were among his top priorities for the constituency. The Speaker also predicted that the Congress would win at least 31 of the 60 seats in the State.