Decision on Congress candidates today

NEW DELHI/ SHILLONG: The Congress screening committee will decide the candidates for Shillong and Tura Lok Sabha seats on Wednesday.
Several Congress leaders from the state arrived in the national capital for meetings of the screening committee for the Lok Sabha polls for the Northeastern states.
The MPCC president, Celestine Lyngdoh, who is part of the screening committee, arrived on Tuesday night. Both the frontrunners for the two seats, Mukul Sangma and sitting Shillong MP Vincent H Pala, are already in the capital.
Ampareen Lyngdoh, Charles Pyngrope and Zenith Sangma, who are AICC secretaries in charge of Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh respectively, will attend screening committee meetings of the respective states. Zenith himself is a possible candidate for Tura in case his brother does not contest.
Wednesday’s meeting is expected to finalise the candidates for Meghalaya and other states. Deborah Marak and HDR Lyngdoh, both former ministers, are also in the race for Shillong and Tura seats.
‘No MDA impact’
The Opposition Congress asserted that the coming together of regional parties in the state will not have any bearing on its prospects and that the party will win both Shillong and Tura seats in the April 11 Lok Sabha polls.
The assertion comes a day after the MDA declared former UDP MLA Jemino Mawthoh as the coalition’s common candidate for the Shillong seat.
Talking to newsmen here, Congress spokesperson HM Shangpliang said that as far as the Shillong seat is concerned the party has a history of winning it, and it is now all geared up to add the Tura seat to its kitty as well.
He said that Vincent Pala has emerged as a strong contender for Shillong and if AICC clears his name, he is going to win.
Stating that grassroots party workers are well prepared, he said that parliamentary elections are different from MDC elections and the Congress is going to win.
Asked about the state NPP president, WR Kharlukhi’s jibe at the Congress that the party will be wiped out in the state in the Lok Sabha polls, Shangpliang termed it as just an election propaganda.