From CK Nayak
New Delhi: When A.L. Hek, Meghalaya Health Minister and a close friend of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma recently denied any dissidence in the State Congress, he was only speaking the half-truth, if the list of names in the reconstituted Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Coordination Committee (MPCCC) sans the name of the dissident leader is anything to go by.
AICC president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday reconstituted the MPCCC with a loyalists-only list and none from the dissidents.
Gandhi reconstituted the MPCCC by inducting three members from the Council of Ministers and an equal number from among party leaders to bring a semblance of unity in the warring State Congress.
The seven-member committee, headed by the newly-appointed AICC general secretary in charge of Meghalaya, V. Narayanasamy, has the Chief Minister and MPCC president D.D. Lapang as members.
Lapang, for a long time now, has remained silent and has even backed out of the race for the Chief Minister’s post after remaining in contention for a while.
Hek admitted that Lapang had earlier openly expressed his displeasure over the style of functioning of the Chief Minister but has now stopped raising the issue. “I agree that earlier there was dissidence and Lapang was vocal but now it has subdued,” Hek had said.
Besides the Chief Minister, the government side in the committee will be represented by Deputy Chief Minister R.C. Laloo and Health Minister A.L. Hek, both close to Mukul. When it comes to the party nominees, again all names are those loyal to the Chief Minister.
MPCC vice president Ronnie V. Lyngdoh is a known loyalist and even spoke against former Chief Minister Salseng C. Marak who was the leading figures in the dissidence movement, out to topple Mukul.
When asked why Salseng was not included in the committee, AICC sources said that he does not hold any top office bearer’s post in the party.
But the former Chief Minister who is the Chairman of the State Planning Board could have been accommodated from the Government side.
The MPCCC has been reconstituted following Narayanasamy’s recent visit to the State.
The committee will thrive to bring unity in the party and serve as link between the party and the Government, the sources added.
But with this division in reconstituted coordination committee with the dissident camp having no representation, the situation might come back to square one, observers said.
To top the woes of the Congress party and the State Government, the Deborah Marak case will fuel the fire not only in the opposition camps but also within the party and the Government, observers said.
With the Assembly session drawing closer, the opposition is likely to raise not only the Deborah episode but also alleged links of other leaders with militant outfits.