AICC makes it official

New Delhi: Ending a week-long uncertainty, the AICC on Thursday gave its formal seal of approval on the names of Congress candidates in Shillong and Tura Lok Sabha seats. Sitting M.P. Vincent H. Pala would contest from the prestigious Shillong Lok Sabha seat while Daryl Momin would fight from Tura instead of Zenith Sangma, according to an announcement from AICC in Delhi.
Pala’s nomination had been kept pending for Congress president Sonia Gandhi and subsequently vice president Rahul Gandhi. After the names of the two Meghalaya candidates of the party were cleared, a formal approval was given by the Central Election Committee of Congress which meet on Thursday again. The CEC also amended the name for the Tura candidate in the official list by announcing: “Daryl in place of Zenith.”
Both of them had cleared the names and the same was formally approved in the party’s Central Election Committee which met again on Thursday. The CEC also amended Daryl’s name among 71 candidates which was declared. “Daryl in place of Zentih,” the announcement of AICC said. Pala would leave for Shillong on Friday.
BJP list: Meanwhile, Shillong Lok Sabha seat did not figure in third list the candidates announced by the Central Election Committee by BJP on Thursday, our staff reporter adds.
The party sources said that apart from two aspirants from Jaintia Hills one Government officer’s name is doing the rounds in Delhi. Besides naming candidate for Shillong seat, the party is all set to announce  support to the NPP candidate Purno Sangma in Tura.

Daryl ready to take on Purno, says Mukul

SHILLONG: Unimpressed with the decision of former Lok Sabha speaker Purno Sangma to contest from the Tura Lok Sabha seat after a break of six years with an NPP ticket, Meghalaya Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said on Thursday that the Congress would expose that the veteran politician had been taking people for a ride all through his political career.
Purno will take on the Congress candidate and a novice in politics Daryl Momin, who is the grandson of the first Chief Minister of Meghalaya Captain Williamson Sangma. The Chief Minister said though Momin was a new entrant into politics, Congress would make a difference this time in Tura. “I was also a new entrant when I had joined politics”, Dr Sangma said while speaking to reporters after the Assembly session on Thursday.
He said people in general and those in Garo Hills knew that Purno Sangma was taking the  people for a ride though he had long innings in politics.
The Chief Minister said what the MUA government has been doing for the last few years for Garo Hills far exceeded the “little contribution” made by Purno Sangma for the region and this had exposed his rhetoric.
The Chief Minister also took a dig at the frequent change of political parties by Purno Sangma.
“Jumping back to the same political party and again shifting to several other political parties have revealed the lack of clarity on his part in respect of his own party affiliations,” the Chief Minister said.
Asked about the mistake in official list which initially had the name of his brother and Cabinet Minister   Zenith Sangma for Tura seat, the Chief Minister said,” I had no role to play as it was the Central Election Committee’s job”.
Pala’s candidature
He wondered how the allegation that he was opposed to the candidature of Shillong sitting MP Vincent Pala was highlighted by the media when the discussion on the seat was confined to the four walls of the Central Election Committee. Asked to comment on Pala’s candidature for Shillong seat and the plan of election campaign, the Chief Minister said,” We will speak on the matter subsequently”