New Delhi / Shillong: Immediately after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha polls in Meghalaya, top Congress leaders of the state, including Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma, have made a beeline for Delhi, leaving the denizens of the Hill State wondering who heads the administration in the state.
The Chief Minister arrived in the national capital on Saturday night. Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee president DD Lapang landed in Delhi prior to him from Bangalore. Congress nominee of Shillong Lok Sabha seat Vincent H Pala also reached Delhi during the day. Rajya Sabha member Wansuk Syiem of Congress, too, had also reached Delhi a day ahead.
Throughout the period of poll campaigning, immediately after the conclusion of the Budget session of the state assembly, the Chief Minister had been away in the Garo Hills, observers pointed out. After the polling was over, he spent overnight in Shillong to predict a 2-0 victory for Congress.
Not that there was no issue in Meghalaya, observers said, the 13 pressure groups demanding inner line permit (ILP) in the state had been complaining that the promise of the government to call them for a meeting had gone unheeded. Even when the Chief Minister was busy campaigning in the Garo Hills for Congress candidate of Tura Daryl Momin there were sensational incidents of kidnapping in and around Tura town by militant groups.
Pala was busy in the Khasi and Jainita Hills campaigning for himself, but prior to that he had spent an agonizing period in Delhi engaged in backroom politics for his ticket. Syiem campaigned for the two Congress nominees in Shillong and Tura before leaving for Delhi.
Both Pala and Syiem are members of the national campaign committee of AICC and would have to travel to other parts of the country for poll campaigning in the remaining phases of the election.