Five MDCs leave Congress in Jaintia Hills

SHILLONG/JOWAI: In a major blow to the Congress in Jaintia Hills, at least five members of the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council have left the party on Wednesday.
Shangpung MDC Kilometer Lytan, former JHADC chief Thombor Shiwat, Bataw MDC Joinriwell Pyrtuh, Myngsngat MDC Pheinlang Nanglein and Barato MDC Riio Sten resigned from the Congress.
Pyrtuh will join BJP while the other four are likely to join NPP.  
Lytan, who has been dropped from the post of JHADC deputy chief, decided to resign from the Congress after a meeting with his supporters on Tuesday.
With the resignation of five Congress MDCs, the Andrew Shullai-led executive committee is left with only 10 Congress MDCs out of the 15 elected in the district council election in 2014.
Meanwhile, close on the heels of the resignation of AL Hek, one of the vice-presidents of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee, the Pynthorumkhrah Block Congress Committee (PBCC) convened a meeting to discuss the nitty-gritty of fielding a replacement candidate as well as to strengthen the party ahead of the Assembly polls. The new PBCC president Wansalan Lyngwa told reporters that the PBCC is not shaken by Hek’s joining the BJP and informed that the block committee will field a candidate against Hek. “If the party finds it fit to give me a ticket to contest the forthcoming election, I am well prepared. I will obey whatever decision the party high command takes,” he said, adding that there was suspicion about Hek’s plan to join the BJP that turned out to be true. Besides Lyngwa, the newly elected office bearers are vice-presidents B. Roy and M. Marbaniang, general secretary T. Lyngkhoi, assistant general secretaries B. Tati and I. Rumnong, and treasurer S Nag, not to mention 30 executive members