SHILLONG, Nov 15: Senior Congress MLA, Charles Pyngrope today asserted that he was ready to don the mantle of chief of the State Congress if the post was offered to him but he would not be lobbying for the same.
“If offered I would, but I will not go after it. Let it be through proper process where everybody’s name is considered and a policy of fair selection is adopted,” Pyngrope said.
It may be recalled that Congress MLAs had earlier written a letter to AICC acting president Sonia Gandhi briefing her about the need to effect a change in the Congress leadership.
What followed next was thus: The then AICC General Secretary in charge Meghalaya, Luizinho Faleiro called for a zoom meeting and decided against change of party leadership at this juncture. Instead the meeting agreed to re-energise the party with an eye on the 2023 Assembly elections.
Incidentally, in September, the AICC removed Faleiro and appointed Manish Chatrath in his place.
Asked when the State Congress will get a new president, Pyngrope said that the term of the incumbent MPCC chief will expire in December, “and that is perhaps when we will have a new president”.
It is noteworthy that this is not the first time Pyngrope had expressed his desire to take over the Congress reigns in the state.
To a query on his name being earlier projected as the MPCC president, the senior Congress MLA said, “My name can be projected along with others who are eligible as there is no qualification criteria except that one should be a senior member of the party.”
