SHILLONG: Senior Congress leader Ampareen Lyngdoh has thrown her weight behind Mukul Sangma as the party’s candidate for the Tura Lok Sabha seat describing him as the “number one batsman” although the former chief minister has declined to contest.
Ampareen on Friday said that everyone is looking at Mukul Sangma for the simple reason that he is the most winnable candidate for theTura seat.
“We have a lot of batsmen within the party, but the number one batsman would be Dr Mukul Sangma,” she said while adding that Congress has a whole lot of leaders and so many of them as MLAs have gained tremendous experience over the year.
According to Ampareen, if the CLP leader agrees to contest the election, it would be a dream come true for all Congressmen in the state and the Congress needs to regain the Tura seat.
“If we win back the Tura seat, I think it would be a worthwhile sacrifice (Mukul Sangma giving up the Songsak seat),” she added.
Asked about Mukul declining to contest the Lok Sabha polls, she said that the party was looking at its number one batsman, but it has to be seen whether he will contest the election… his decision will be final and the party will respect his decision, the Congress MLA said.
“Whether or not he contests the election, he is still the CLP leader and in the crucial elections of 2019, when every seat will count we need to field the number one batsman,” Ampareen said.
Mukul’s name is being proposed as one of the candidates for Tura seat while two other leaders — Zenith Sangma and Deborah Marak — too have applied for the party ticket to contest the election from the constituency.
Asked about reports that sitting Congress MP from Shillong Vincent Pala may contest the election from NPP, she said that she was present at an AICC meeting where he swore his allegiance to the party.
“Any other gossip that is passing around is mere gossip.I was there and he promised that for him the only party is Congress. So the question of him switching to any other party does not arise,” she added.
