From Saurav Bora
NONGPOH: This Ri Bhoi constituency, which saw a leader in Donwa Dethwelson Lapang (popularly known as DD Lapang) for four decades, remained witness to another significant piece of history this afternoon.
It was about 12.30 pm when the former Meghalaya chief minister and veteran Congress leader disembarked from his silver grey SUV to cast his vote at the Ri Bhoi Presbyterian HS School at Pahamlapong here — this time after many years, not as a candidate that the electorate here were so used to over the decades. His hair may have all turned grey, his steps heavier, but the resolve remains even as there was a sense of relief, as he admits later.
Asked how different it was to vote not as a candidate after 40 long years, the octogenarian in an exclusive interview with The Shillong Times at his residence here, reflected: “I have done my part and yes I am relieved. I have led this constituency for 40 years. I am 85 and now feel it is time for a replacement.”
Bestowing full faith in Mayralborn Syiem, the Congress candidate who was by his side at the polling booth, Lapang said, “I am convinced he will deliver the goods… though there are many contenders, he is the best of the lot. He is capable and qualified.”
The veteran leader who surprised many in his own as well as opposition camps by opting out of the poll race on health grounds, justified his timing, saying, “I am happy that I can put someone to work when I am healthy enough to advise and work rather than doing the same when I am too old to work and helpless.”
The veteran leader said he expected Congress to win majority of the seats in the Assembly election.
“Of the 59 seats that went to the polls today, we are hopeful that the party wins majority of the seats including Nongpoh… the possibility of forming the government is very great,” Lapang said.
“The principles and ideology of the Congress itself speak for the party. Congress has done a lot for the nation in getting freedom… has done a lot for Meghalaya’s statehood and also to make Ri Bhoi which has recently celebrated 25 years. These speak more than words as to what Congress has done and I have full faith in the general people who I think feel a sense of gratitude towards the party,” the veteran leader said.
The former chief minister who is currently adviser to MPCC, further certified Congress as the better party despite the emergence of new parties.
Obliquely taking a dig at the BJP, which has this time left no stone unturned to make a stronger foray in unchartered territory, Lapang said Congress believes in secularism as the spirit of the party. “People here are conscious about the freedom of worship and freedom to take food. So our party believes in unity amidst diversity. India has been united because of its secularism,” he said.
Asked about the NPP as an emerging force, Lapang said, “They are yet to be seen. This is the first time they have tried to make their ideology and doctrine known. The question remains as to how many they will win.”
On regional parties, he said, “There are too many of them. They combine every party against Congress and hardly last in the government after a bundle of contradictions emerge in regard to portfolios and seats.”
Asked if there was any unfinished business he would like his “potential successor” to complete in Nongpoh, Lapang said, “The Northern Ri Bhoi College at Umden is pending after I took the initiative. But I have full confidence that he (Mayralborn) will be able to follow my footsteps (if he wins) and even do better.”
Nongpoh is yet to have a full-fledged government college. “The Ri Bhoi College that I started with just seven students is a semi-government college,” he said.
The former MPCC chief agreed that the interior areas of Nongpoh constituency were still backward. “Yes, I agree. Nongpoh otherwise is centrally located and the headquarters happen to be here,” he said.
Asked whether projects like the railway track from Byrnihat to Shillong would see the light of day if Congress retained power, he said, “They will”.
To a query on whether the role of the advisor to MPCC is a big relief for him, Lapang smiled and answered in the affirmative.
Asked whether Celestine Lyngdoh, who took over as MPCC chief recently, could fill his boots, the veteran leader said, “Yes, he certainly would. He is young and dynamic.”