NEW DELHI, May 16: Congress MP Vincent Pala has been tipped to take over as Meghalaya PCC chief in a bid to revive the party’s fortune in the one NE state which has not fallen head over heels for the ruling BJP.
Sources said here on Sunday that Congress high command, which is clearly getting battle ready for polls in Meghalaya in less than two year’s time, is of the view that Pala is currently the most popular party leader across Khasi-Jaintia Hills and enjoys party workers’ confidence. With Mukul Sangma holding his grip over Garo Hills, the party sources feel that with the three-term MP at the helm Congress would be able to turn the table on the regional parties-BJP satrap currently in power in the state.
Pala, whose stock has risen in the AICC, is most likely to be named as the next state president apparently since the part rank and file is yet to arrive at a consensus on the other contender in the shape of former Assembly Speaker Charles Pyngrope.
Pala, who was earlier non-committal and was biding his time, has now thrown his hat in the ring. The AICC is inclined to back Pala on the expectation that the party might witness a comeback to power in 2023 riding on his leadership qualities and personal popularity.
When asked AICC in-charge of Meghalaya, Manish Chatrath, said that the party is busy assessing the outcome of the recently-held elections in the country, including Assam. He neither confirmed nor denied the development, and added that the AICC will take a call at the right time.
The party’s central leadership is also aware of the fact that while former chief minister, Mukul Sangma is still strong in the Garo Hills region where there are 24 Assembly seats, it has no strong leader in Khasi-Jaintia Hills other than Pala. Most of the former party’s Khasi leaders, starting from Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong to DD Lapang have joined the ruling NPP and are unlikely to return to a weakened Congress.
Among the present stock of Khasi leaders, Charles Pyngrope’s name was in the reckoning for the top post but he faced opposition from a section of party leaders. At one point even sitting MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh too had offered to fill the breach. A lot will depend on Mukul Sangma who is also leader of the Congress Legislature Party who may not readily accept Pala at the helm. Party insiders believe that ultimately the former CM would have to bow to the will of AICC.
When Pala was asked for his reaction, he declined to make any comment. People in the know of things, however, confirmed that he has conveyed his willingness to take the mantle of the party.
It may be recalled that Pala was earlier offered to take over the post of the MPCC president in place of Lapang. But that time he had declined.
It remains a fact that earlier most of the party MLAs and MDCs from Khasi Hills had reposed their faith on Pyngrope to lead the party especially with about two years left for the Assembly elections in the state. But Mukul Sangma’s opposition and subsequent ambivalence on Pyngrope’s part has changed the calculations.
Meanwhile, Pala has risen a few notches in party estimation. Last November, he was appointed as convenor of the high-level committee on National Security by acting party president, Sonia Gandhi, where senior leaders like former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are members.
The committee was to advise the party president on internal security which became very important after Chinese incursions on the border and heightened militancy in now bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir. This was for the first time that the Shillong MP got a place in the AICC after he was dropped from the UPA Ministry with the assurance that he would be drafted for party work.
Technocrat turned politician Pala was recently appointment to several high-level AICC committees including the one on post-mortem of recent assembly poll debacle has increased his stature in the AlCC.
Pala, who holds the distinction of winning three times consecutively from Shillong Parliamentary constituency despite his party biting the dust everywhere, including in Meghalaya, was at one point made the working president of the MPCC. But his rise in hierarchy was checked due to perennial intrigues in the Meghalaya Congress and eventually another working president was appointed in his place.
