Environment Minister Prestone Tynsong admitted that he had strongly opposed the allotment of party ticket to sitting Congress MP Vincent H Pala from the Shillong Parliamentary seats.
“It is true that I opposed to the proposal of awarding ticket to Pala. I even campaigned in Delhi to see that the sitting MP does not get the ticket,” Tynsong said while addressing a meeting of the party workers of the Pynursla Block Congress Committee (PBCC) in the presence sitting Congress MP Vincent H Pala at Pynursla on Thursday.
The Congress Minister however said that he has now decided to back the candidature of Pala since he has to respect the decision of the party high command.
“I would like to urge upon the party workers not to be misled by rumours that I am opposing the candidature of Pala. I am standing here to show my solidarity with the sitting MP,” he said.
Tynsong also expresses confident that the Congress would again retain the Shillong Parliamentary by a thumping majority.
While addressing a separate public meeting at Pynursla, UDP candidate Paul Lyngdoh said that he expected to get the Congress vote bank from Pynursla constituency in the context that Tynsong is opposing the candidature of Pala.
“We have seen in the media report that your sitting legislator is totally against the sitting MP. I am hopeful to get all the Congress votes from this constituency,” Lyngdoh said.
He further said that he hoped to acquire votes of other regional parties like KHNAM and HSPDP since both the parties have not set up any candidate for this election.