From CK Nayak
New Delhi: The ruling Congress party which got 29 seats in the recently held Assembly polls in Meghalaya would have got majority on its own had the rebel candidates not dented its votes, MPCC president, DD Lapang told party supremo Sonia Gandhi here on Thursday.
Lapang also assured Sonia that with with ‘unconditional’ support of 11 Independents and two NCP legislators the MUA-II Government is stable, adding there is no need of support of regional parties as of now.
Despite stiff fight from the opposition parties, the Congress remained in second position in as many as 20 seats, Lapang told Sonia, adding that if the party’s rebel candidates had not contested many of such seats could have been netted by the Congress.
Gandhi expressed her happiness over the Congress victory in Meghalaya and urged the state party unit to continue to work unitedly. The party retained power in Meghalaya but could not wrest the same in Nagaland and Tripura all of whom went to polls in the same month.
The former Chief Minister also showcased the unanimous election, first of the Speaker AT Mondal in the Assembly and then of Wansuk Syiem to the Rajya Sabha.
“This proves the supremacy and wider acceptability of Congress across the State,” he told the party president.
But at the same time Lapang urged Gandhi to lift the limit on the size of the cabinet in small states like Meghalaya which is a cause for unstable Governments.
As per norms the size of the ministry cannot be more than 12 in the 60-member House.
Lapang gave all credit of the electoral victory in Meghalaya to the party’s triumvirate – UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress-led Government’s good developmental work all through the term was also widely appreciated by the public, he told Sonia.
Later, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and Lapang also met Rahul Gandhi and apprised him about the state of affairs in Meghalaya.
Incidentally, the Congress vice president had already met both the Congress MPs – Vincent H Pala and Wansuk Syiem – and student leaders from the State.
Rahul is taking stock of the situation of the party and the Congress-led governments all over the country on the eve of the next Lok Sabha polls due early next year.
He is also looking into the situation in poll bound states and states where polling was completed recently, party sources said.