Trouble for Mukul, MPCC
SHILLONG: Trouble is brewing afresh in the Meghalaya Congress with a few Congress legislators expressing displeasure over the stand of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma for not taking action against Cabinet Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar for allegedly campaigning against Vincent Pala, the Congress candidate for the Lok Sabha polls from Shillong seat.
A few legislators, who do not want to be named at this juncture, on Friday expressed surprise as to why the Chief Minister was not axing the Minister from his Cabinet over alleged anti-party activities.
“If no action is taken against the Minister it will raise doubts in the minds of the Congress legislators on the role of the Chief Minister during the Lok Sabha polls,” they said.
The ‘rebel’ legislators also announced that in the second week of July they will come out in the open against the State Congress leadership.
Indicating that they had lost faith in the leadership of the Chief Minister, the legislators said they were against the style of functioning of the Chief Minister who holds many portfolios but is absent from the Secretariat most of the time.
Out of 30 days, the Chief Minister is in station hardly for 10 days which indicates that governance is at a standstill, they said, adding that lack of governance was responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in the State.
Earlier, there were reports that the Chief Minister did not campaign for Pala during the Lok Sabha polls even though he had campaigned for the Congress candidates for the elections to the KHADC.
Earlier, the Chief Minister had claimed that there were many senior leaders in Khasi Hills to campaign for Pala, so he concentrated his campaign in Garo Hills.
According to the disgruntled Congress legislators, Pala won the Lok Sabha election despite heavy odds only because they worked overtime to ensure his victory.
Asked about why the reaction had come so late, the Congress legislators said they wanted some corrective measures from the Congress High Command to ensure that Congress candidates are not defeated in the 2018 Assembly elections due to infighting.
Some legislators even wondered why some Independent legislators, despite enjoying the perks of being Parliamentary Secretaries, worked against Pala to ensure his defeat.
The legislators also asked their colleagues not to accept any offer of ministerial posts in case of any Cabinet reshuffle in the State.