SHILLONG: The message for the state Congress from the Lok Sabha election to two seats and the by-poll to the Selsella assembly seat is loud and clear.
And, as enunciated by senior party leader Ampareen Lyngdoh, it is: “MPCC will have to wake up.”
Lyngdoh was responding to a question on whether any overhauling of the party apparatus is required in Meghalaya following its unsatisfactory performance where it lost in Tura parliamentary seat as well as the Selsella seat which it held.
She said the All India Congress Committee has asked that all state units of the party need to be revamped. “I presume Meghalaya will have to brace up and MPCC will have to wake up,” she said. She, however, expressed gratitude to the voters of Shillong parliamentary constituency for lending their support to the Congress that saw its candidate Vincent H Pala sail through for the third consecutive term.
She said that the 19 Congress legislators in the House of 60 MLAs in Meghalaya are not quitting and they are going to prepare themselves for what lies ahead.
Lyngdoh pointed out that there is need for a strong opposition even though the BJP will unleash all it has to try and burn the Congress out.
“I am not going to give up and I am sure my colleagues too will not give up either,” Lyngdoh said.
She stated that the 19 Congress MLAs make for a big number and they will remain united. “It is not the end of everything,” she said.
Slamming the regional parties, she said that the future will be tricky for Meghalaya as parties like NPP and others kept maintaining that they were not with NDA or NEDA, but have now revealed their tilt towards them.
“We are wondering whether it will be good for the state in the long run keeping in mind the manifesto of the BJP,” she said while saying that the Congress MLAs will have a big role to play in the next four years.
As far as national politics is concerned where Congress performed badly, she said that the party is not going to take a hasty decision about the leadership at the national level.
