SHILLONG: Cabinet Minister and senior Congress leader Deborah Marak said on Tuesday “there is no alternative to Congress in Meghalaya” and the party will come back to power in the 2018 Assembly elections.
Marak said, “We are always ready to fight elections as we are a fighter party.”
The comment comes days after Chief Minister Mukul Sangma asserted that the Congress will come back at the Centre.
Marak, who feels it will be difficult for BJP to make inroads in Meghalaya, said the Congress can give a good fight to regional parties as well as national.
The Minister, however, downplayed the party’s internal bickering and said it will not affect the Congress’s election results. In fact, she was confident that the “development work” the party did in the State gives it immunity against the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a coalition of non-Congress parties in the region. “The Congress does not have any fear of NEDA,” she said. The Cabinet Minister was of the view that even in Garo Hills, where BJP has already started its groundwork to strengthen its foothold by opening its regional office in Tura, the Congress can maintain its 2013 glory. This, she said, would be despite the party’s poor performance in the District Council by-polls and Lok Sabha election.
“MP and MDC elections are different and the electorate always chose separate MDCs, MLAs and MPs,” she added.
‘Rape’ concerns
The State Congress leadership and the party’s women wing have been criticised for their silence on the growing crime against women and children. However, on Tuesday, Deborah Marak said she was concerned over the crimes and that she had spoken to the women’s commission once.
