SHILLONG: Former Congress leader DD Lapang said on Sunday that he did not want to contest the February 27 Assembly polls because the AICC was not keen to field him.
In a statement issued to the media in response to the criticism by Congress leaders Zenith Sangma and Celestine Lyngdoh, Lapang said his refusal to contest the assembly election from Nongpoh constituency was because he knew the mind of the AICC to phase out senior and elderly leaders to replace with young ones.
Prior to the polls, Lapang did not reveal this reason but only said he was giving way to a new face.
Lapang said he made the decision to project a new young leader Mayralborn Syiem, who will have a better place in the AICC as it will be in consonance with the present policy.
“I worked very hard which also reflected in Mayralborn Syiem’s victory by a big margin,” he said.
Lapang said the AICC wanted to remove him as the president of MPCC and hence Anil Thomas, one of the coordinators of the AICC to Meghalaya, was sent for this purpose.
Thomas came to Shillong and apprised him of the AICC’s plan to replace senior and elderly leaders by appointing young leaders. Thomas also said AICC president Rahul Gandhi wanted to meet him.
Lapang said during the meeting with Gandhi, he was made to understand what the high command wanted. He agreed to step down from the post of president but requested Gandhi to allow him to hand over the charge on a later date since the Assembly election was on and the voting date was just a few days away.
Lapang said Rahul conveyed to him that the arrangement has been made all over the country including Meghalaya and everything was set.
“I obediently agreed. I was on my way back to Shillong when I learnt that the notification approving Dr. C. Lyngdoh’s appointment as the new PCC was out,” Lapang said. The veteran leader alleged that the AICC was whimsical in changing chief ministers.
“There has been an ongoing system adopted by the AICC that whenever they wanted to change a chief minister on grounds best known to them, they summoned the chief minister to Delhi. Based on reports collected by the high command, the chief minister is asked to step down and submit his resignation. They would go to the extent of drafting the resignation letter according to their whims and fancies,” Lapang alleged in a statement issued to the media.
Regarding his case, Lapang said he was inducted five times as chief minister and there was a time when the AICC intended to change his position and appoint JD Rymbai as the CM.
“As the system goes, I was summoned to Delhi and they advised me to resign. As a disciplined Congressman I did not argue, I willingly obliged. On another occasion, on the pretext of the reports collected by the high command, I was told that for the unity of the party, I was to resign as chief minister and Dr Mukul Sangma to be appointed in my place,” Lapang said.
It was only then that Lapang was made to understand the mind of the high command and he forwarded his resignation.
“It was for the sake of unity and to strengthen the party (that) I wholeheartedly cooperated with the decision of the AICC, of which the AICC has expressed their appreciation and gratitude towards me many a time,” Lapang said.
