NEW DELHI, Sep 2: Newly-appointed president of the state Congress, Vincent H Pala on Thursday assured All India Congress Committee president, Sonia Gandhi that the party will spring back to power in Meghalaya due to large-scale corruption and inefficiency of the ruling NPP-led MDA Government with BJP as its partner.
In a letter addressed to the AICC chief, Pala said that Meghalaya and rest of the Northeastern states have undergone adverse changes ever since the UPA-I and UPA-II rule led by the Congress came to an end in the region due to the polarized politics of the BJP. “These negative changes can be overturned and capitalized into highly progressive ones if we work sincerely and honestly with a visionary mindset,” he said.
Elections in Meghalaya are due in February 2023, preparations of which will begin very soon. “We assure you that we will strive to the best of our capabilities to turn the tide in our favour by creating an effective anti-incumbency front and initiate consensus-building for our party workers,” Pala said.
“As witnessed recently, the development of events in Meghalaya, the BJP and its allies are precariously sailing in troubled waters,” Pala said in his letter. “This is the right opportunity for our party to strategise and bounce back by planning our moves,” he said.“We will be able to accomplish whatever great tasks that lie ahead of us,” Pala said. “As a team we shall overcome all the difficulties that the party has encountered and responsibly shoulder upon ourselves the task of rebounding back the party to glory and victory,” he added.
The former Union Minister emphasised that strong leadership is the need of the hour, and it is extremely crucial for the road ahead. He also profusely thanked both the party president and Rahul Gandhi for appointing him as PCC president of Meghalaya.
The faction-ridden Congress party in Meghalaya has seen renewed enthusiasm after Pala was named the MPCC president. Demand for a change in the party leadership had been frequently raised by the leaders and MLAs. However, they were not addressed for about a year.
In a reverse trend, many party leaders like PN Syiem and RG Lyngdoh, who were once heading district councils and ministries, are all set to come back to the Congress fold. Along with the duo many other former district presidents and other leaders will also join the party, Pala said.
Several party leaders who had left the Congress after being sidelined for various reasons will also now join back, Pala observed. “This is because they can sense that the future government will belong to Congress in Meghalaya and not to the diametrically opposed BJP or other parties,” he said.
