United we stand in poll season, say Cong seniors

SHILLONG: Senior Congress leaders, including the newly elected chief of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), have asked party members to stay united and avoid internal bickering.
Celestine Lyngdoh, while expressing confidence that the Congress will form the next government, said the party should stay united to be successful in the elections.
DD Lapang, advisor to MPCC, admitted that there were internal differences but “the party remains united”.
“The mother and the father will not burn down their house due to the differences they have,” the senior leader said at a programme at Congress Bhavan here
He requested AICC coordinator Anil Thomas, who was present at the meeting, to convey to Congress president Rahul Gandhi that the party is united and winning the election is their motto.
Meanwhile, MPCC working president Vincent Pala emphasised on the need to bring the suspended and expelled members of the party together without compromising on party rules.
Echoing Lapang, both Pala and senior leader SC Marak said unity would ensure electoral success.
Pala said the party was focusing on the winnability factor of candidates.
“BJP, NPP and PDF are coming in a big way. There is a division in the opposition. I think it is an opportunity for the Congress,” he said.
Fight of ideologies
The 2018 Assembly elections in Meghalaya is also about ideologies besides the fight among political parties, said Lyngdoh. Lyngdoh said the ideology of inclusiveness was under threat. “A section of people are saying that India is for the Hindus. (They say) All who stay in India are Hindus and we beg to differ as we are a mixed group,” he said and added that the Congress can safeguard the country’s secularism.
Social media
Pala announced the creation of the MPCC WhatsApp group and said the party would start a war room wherein the youth will play a major role.
He said those who still wanted to apply for ticket can meet the MPCC leaders.
On legislators who quit the party
Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has hit out at the legislators who have left the party by asserting that they felt suffocated as they could not fulfil their interests.
He claimed that the Congress is not a party that provides a platform to engage in self-centric interests.
Slamming the legislators for having a common agenda, he said, “People who have gone should have gone and people are congratulating us as they said that they (the voters) should have made them go a long time ago. But we allowed them to take their time.”
Asserting that the void will be filled by other potential candidates, Sangma said, “People who want to go can go but people who want to come can come. I keep my door open for people to come in. There are many people who want to join the party.”
Commenting on the legislators who have joined other parties, Pala said, “They were good but we have better ones now.”
He added that the desertion of key legislators should not be a disappointment for the party but the party should work together as he observed that people of Meghalaya are wise.
The exodus should not discourage party members who should remain steadfast in its preparation for the polls, said Marak.