Independent MLA set to join Cong

SHILLONG: Mawryngkneng MLA David Nongrum, who is all set to contest on Congress ticket, has slammed defectors saying they left the party as they wanted to be leaders themselves.
Speaking to media persons on sidelines of a programme where he handed over Rs 3 lakh to Mawlynrei Presbyterian LP School for construction of its building, Nongrum said those who are criticising the Congress leadership were part of the party and the government for so many years.
“I think the main reason for their defection is that they want to be leaders themselves,” he said, adding that if the defectors had issues with the leadership, they should have left the party when the government was formed.
Nongrum said he would officially join the Congress in the first week of January. Talking about his loyalty to the party, the MLA said he was always a Congress man and his father and former Speaker Charles Pyngrope was also a party legislator. Nongrum was denied ticket in 2013.
Responding to a query, Nongrum said he was approached by different parties but he decided to join “secular” Congress that can provide good governance.
Expressing optimism that the Congress will come back to power in the 2018 Assembly polls, the legislator said the current situation in the country under BJP rule has forced people to regret their decision and this was indicated in the Gujarat polls where the Congress did well.
“Other states will follow soon as the Congress gives us the right to speak, right to practice our religion and right to do what we wish to do,” he told reporters.
Later, Nongrum also inspected different internal roads in his constituency to ensure access for farmers to the markets.