Pala firm on contesting 2019 LS elections from Congress

SHILLONG: Shillong MP Vincent Pala said he would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Congress as he maintained people still have confidence in the party.
When referred to rumours about Pala’s close association with non-Congress leaders, the leader said, “I am always with the Congress and will be with the Congress. Rumours doing the rounds are only people’s perceptions. I also have my weak points and I am close and friendly with everybody,” he told reporters on Friday on the sidelines of a school function.
Pointing out that people are suspicious of his friendly behaviour with political rivals, he said, “Conrad (Sangma) is also a friend as well as many others. It is there that people make a mistake.”
He said, “No doubt, I will contest from the Congress.”
Pala maintained that people are banking on the Congress as they know the party’s mass base and “soft corner for tribals”.
“Many people who left the Congress recently felt they need to turn back to the party,” he said.
Council polls
Commenting on the 2019 district council election, which is still one year away, the MP said, “People usually look for the party and secondly the face value of the candidates that we put up.”
Asked about Congress MLAs demanding a change in the leadership of the CLP currently led by Mukul Sangma, Pala downplayed it as people’s perception. “Everything goes well whenever we have meetings. So far, it is good. There may have been misunderstandings but so far it is good. But then nobody is perfect, dissatisfaction will exist,” he said.
“But when it comes to party, if one or two MLAs out of 20 are dissatisfied… in politics you have to somehow be satisfied,” he added.
Williamnagar, Ampati polls
Citing ill-health, Pala said he could not visit Williamnagar but maintained the Congress will be able to pull it off. “We have a chance to win although the competition is tough,” he added.
When asked about the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, he refused to comment saying it was too early to assess the coalition’s performance. At the same time, he said the public has high expectations from the alliance.
“Some of them are fresh. It is not fair to say they did not perform well in the Assembly. Everybody needs a little bit of experience. I wish them all the best because we have to respect people’s mandate,” he added.
As for the Ampati by-election, Pala said so far none of the parties have put up their candidates and it is too early to say anything about it.