SHILLONG: Advisor to the state government and Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president, DD Lapang expressed hope that people in the country would elect Congress back to power at the Centre.
Addressing the concluding function of the year-long Indira Gandhi Birth Centenary celebrations at the party’s office here on Monday, Lapang said, “We hope that the public and millions of souls in India will bring back Congress to the Centre once again to run the show and rule this big country.”
Apprehending that the strong foundation of secularism as laid by Indira Gandhi was being threatened by certain forces, he called upon the party men “to leave no stone unturned” to bring Congress back to power.
Stating that freedom of religion and expression was being affected, Lapang said, “I want to link up with the present political situation. If we open our eyes and see what Congress has done, no one can do it. And if at all, they try to forget it, they will not forget.”
He recalled the contributions of Gandhi, India’s first Prime Minister, and her visit to the state at Madan Nongthymmai during which she wore Jainsem-Dhara, yellow Khasi traditional attire.
“We cannot forget Indira Gandhi because through her hand we got the hill state. She said, ‘We gave you a state of your own so that you can grow according to your own genius’,” Lapang recalled. He called upon the party functionaries not to leave behind the memories of Gandhi but to continue to succeed, survive, thrive and prosper.
The former chief minister said, “100 years ago, who might have thought the child who was born on November 19, 1917, would change the face of not only India, but the world as whole.”
The MPCC observed the year-long Indira Gandhi Birth Centenary celebrations beginning on November 19, 2016, at the booth, block, district and PCC levels, together with the frontal organisations and PCC departments.
Similar functions were held in all 11 districts.
